The Reluctant Weapon Part One The Dream
by Moonravens
Summary: The Rosenkreuz have a weapon from the past that can destroy Rome in a heartbeat. The only problem is it is as wild as a woman's heart. Abel finds a unique woman who shows him the potential of unconditional love. Lets hope Cain never learns about her.
1. Chapter 1: The Dream

**The Reluctant Weapon - Part One : _The Dream_**

_The story is about a young woman name Valentina de Medici, who is born with great power. She gets pulled deiberatly out of her time by the Rosenkreudz to become their ulitamte weapon and to preoccupy the attentions of their insain leader Cain. But what if she were to fall into the hands of the Vatican, would she choose her former masters or would she choose the kindness of Father Abel Nightroad? Is this real or is she dreaming, only she can be sure. __Trinity Blood doesn't belong to me but, Valentina does. Some of this is based off the novels and some from the anime. This is my first fan fiction, I hope you like it._

* * *

Isaak Fernand von Kampfer, a tall thin man with a coldly handsome face and long straight black hair, looked out of the airships windows and smiled to himself. In only an hour the weapon that would bring ruin to the world would be in his grasp. He turned to the machine and finished the final measures of this little experiment. He smiled to think how pleased the Contra Mundi would be with his success. The Contra Mundi, also known as Cain, entered the room, " How much longer before we begin, Panzer Magier?"

"We are ready at your command now, Master," said Isaak with his hand over the button.

"Do it, I grow impatient to meet this young woman you claim will be the ultimate weapon if infused with my blood."

"Yes Master," Isaak pushed the button and bluish-white light filled the room. The light died down after half an hour to reveal an unconscious young woman wearing a bloodstained white blouse and a pair of black leather pants. Isaak picked her up and carried her to a medical table; he brushed her long blood auburn hair from her lovely moon pale face and smiled as he thought, '_History books didn't do her justice. Her beauty would make men despair and her power could bring Rome to ruin with a blink of an eye. If he likes her than maybe while she is preoccupying his time I can make my own plans._'

"It is my great honor to introduce to the Rosenkreuz Orden the Star of Annihilation, Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici. This young lady is a witch of the highest power having been born with Methuselah-type abilities such as - pyrokinesis, telekinetic blasts that can take out an entire city if she so chose too, mental manipulation abilities that would make Dietrich envious, and she can call the weather and bend it to her will. And she will be even more powerful once we infuse her blood with yours Master, thus making her the perfect weapon and a suitable bride for yourself sir."

Cain walked to the table to have a closer look at this girl, who Isaak proposed to merge with him through his blood, and let out a sigh. She was a rare beauty with blood auburn hair to her hips, moon pale skin that was smooth as silk, a figure that was pleasing to the eye, and a beautiful face that held a pair of ruby lips that drew him in. He wondered what color her eyes were as Isaak began to transfuse Cain's blood into Valentina's veins.

An hour later she woke up to find that, instead of being in a coffin in her psychotic ex-boyfriend's cold basement, she was lying on a medic's table with about twenty men looking at her. She didn't think, '_Hey this is better than the coffin_,' or even, '_where am I?_' No, she didn't think at all, she just reacted with her body on autopilot. She jumped to her feet and kicked two men in the head as she flipped off the table landing on their faces with the full force of her 120 pound 5'7" frame. Her right fist came around to punch Dietrich in the face with a breaking sound around his nose as her left foot kicked another man behind her in the groin with enough force for him to faint from the pain. Valentina weaved around three assailants causing them to knock each other out without even laying a hand on her. She grinned at the next three to try to subdue her with something bordering on insane glee as one of the men pulled a gun out and shot his two comrades, and then he crawled to her like a puppy looking the be rewarded. She patted him on the head and said, "Sleep, that's a good boy."

Valentina looked up from her new pet to find herself face to face with a smile that serenely hid the insanity inside like a mask. That smile bothered her and she found herself wanting to wipe it off the man's face. She pulled a knife out of the sheath at the small of her back and tried to stab him, only to find the smiling man with the blonde hair was holding her knife hand at the wrist and was gently twisting. She dropped the knife with a cut off scream and kicked at his knee. He stepped out to the side so her foot only connected with empty air and pulled her into his embrace, " Isaak was right about your powers but he did not say what a skilled fighter you are."

"Let go of me," she said in a weak voice as she pushed at his chest.

"No, I think I'll keep you very close my little star of the emerald-hoarfrost eyes. You are staying here to be my weapon against the world and my bride," said this smiling man with a lilt of a chuckle. She thought, as she looked into his pretty blue eyes that held little that was sane and much that wasn't, '_Oh God, why deliver me from certain death only to hand me to this mad man?_'

It took some effort but Isaak managed after a week to convince Valentina that life would be easier if she joined the cause of the Rosenkreuz Orden. But her compliance seemed more sarcastic than genuine, she just wanted to be left alone and if saying yes to join the cause of these fanatics would make them leave her in peace then so be it. The three who wouldn't leave her be were Dietrich, Isaak, and Cain. Dietrich struck her as harmless, because she could turn this '_Puppet Master_' into her puppet, but he was still infuriating even when she did control him. Isaak Fernand von Kampfer treated her like a pet project forcing her to hone her magick and fighting skills to flawless perfection. He was even more infuriating than Dietrich because he treated her with something bordering on fatherly patience with a pat on her head when she lost her temper with him as if she had done something cute which would make her even angrier. She used her telekinetic blast to throw him through a wall once; he just smiled at her like she had turned him on needless to say she never did it again. Then there was Cain, a psychopath in an angel's body, a man who kept looking at her as if he wanted to know what she looked like with not only her clothes off but also her skin. He pushed her too far one night and she called power she didn't even know she had. She grew fangs as a pair of wings of night black feathers with violent purple edging sprouted from her back, a whirlwind of electrical power surged around her, and then she threw him through five walls without even touching him. He just laughed at her, sprouted wings of his own, and threw her against the opposite wall. She didn't remember much after that except that she woke up the next day in her bed with a damp rag on her head and a blinding headache. This treatment persisted for a month before they finally let her out of the airship with a mission, she was to convince a high-ranking clergyman to join their cause, but she had other ideas and they involved **escape**.

* * *

Father Hugue de Watteau turned around to find an attractive young woman with a pair of mesmerizing eyes like emerald hoarfrost framed in a face of unsurpassing beauty that also held a pair of lips that made him miss the past when he knew what fun was, silken skin as pale as the moon, hip length hair like silk thread of the rarest blood auburn, and a pleasing figure that caused immediately censored thoughts in the quiet priest's mind. 

"Arrest me," said the pretty woman in a dulcet tone with her delicate looking hands out stretched before him.

" Why."

" I'm of the Rosenkreuz Orden. See, I'm wearing their uniform," she spun around slowly to show off the figure hugging uniform with the short thigh-length full skirt that showed off her legs, "Please Father, I'm begging you to arrest me."

Hugue looked down at her as she got onto her knees and began to plead with him, "Please Father, you have no idea what I have been through for the past month, a man grooming me to be his bride and a weapon of total world destruction. Another man keeps pushing me to the brink of insanity and treats me like I'm a rare treasure to be owned, nothing more than property. I'm treated like a massively magnificent jar of explosive poisoned candy. I can't take it anymore, so, please just take me to the smallest cell you can find and chuck me in it. At least I would have peaceful silence…."

"Hey Father, just take her to the nearest hotel and get it over with," said a man passing by who began to laugh at his own perverted thoughts. Valentina sprang up with grace and speed; she walked over to the impertinent man and punched him in the face. The punch was beautiful and textbook perfect, and she looked down at him after he hit the ground, "Now lets get one thing straight. I do not give people sexual favors ever and especially not in the street. Are we clear now, you miserable little excuse for a human being, or do I have to extend my lesson in morality?"

"We're clear, we're clear, I'm sorry."

"Good, now get out of my sight," she said and walked back to Father Hugue, "see Father, I'm a menace to society."

"She's the prettiest menace I have ever seen. Where did you find her Hugue," said a tall darkly hansom priest who looked more like a spokesman for romance novels. He walked over and smiled at Valentina, "Don't mind Hugue, he doesn't say much. He seems to like that whole lone wolf bullshit. Is there something I can do for you? By the way I'm Father Leon Garsia de Asturias."

"Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici, nice to meet you…umm…did I say something wrong Father?"

"Nothing at all, so, you're a de Medici," it was a statement of fact and nothing more. She smiled captivatingly at Father Leon, "Could you please arrest me Father? I want to get away from the Rosenkreuz and your friend seems less than compliant. In fact he's down right antisocial."

"You're not wanted in connection to anything I know of but I can offer sanctuary if you like. And like I said before don't mind Hugue because he is antisocial," said Leon as he led her to the Vatican.

By the time they got to the Vatican's main gates Father Leon was carrying Valentina like a small child and he was grinning like a kid in a candy store.

"Leon, what are you doing with that girl," said an approaching priest with white hair.

"Carrying her, what does it look like Father Four-Eyes," said Leon and he gave Valentina a wink.

"I thought you'd say something like that Leon. Hello Miss, I'm…what?"

Valentina literally flipped over Father Leon's head using his shoulders as fulcrums to get more lift. Once behind him she said, " I can't go anywhere without you following me can I?"

"W-what," said the white haired priest with the glasses waving his hands in front of him, "you're a charming young woman but I've never seen you before."

She threw her arms skyward, "My God, why have you sent me to a place where there is a Cain clone?"

"Cain, you know Cain," said the white haired priest as he suddenly became a great deal more serious.

"Unfortunately, he's been grooming me to be his bride and to be a freaking super weapon for so long that I can't remember anymore. I can't stand the man, damn the Contra Mundi, and his psychotic plans. I'm sorry for my outburst Father," she said as she stepped out from behind Father Leon.

"That's alright, I'm Father Abel Nightroad," he said with a smile that warmed Valentina's very soul. She gave him an intensely scrutinizing look, which made Father Nightroad blush, and smiled at him brightly, "You have a kinder smile than Cain's, Father Nightroad. However, I can tell that you hide something deep inside that you are ashamed of and the name Lilith Sahl is always fresh in your mind for this reason," her eyes grew wide and she stepped backwards, "Abel Nightroad brother to Cain. He killed Lilith for swaying your opinion on the human race and now her body resides in the catacombs…uh…I'm...sorry…did I say something I shouldn't have? I need to learn to stay out of people's private thoughts. Maybe this was a bad idea, I'll just go find a cave and hide from the world before I'm accused of witchcraft and executed for heresy."

She began to walk back to the gates at a rapid pace that quickly became a full out run and found her way blocked by a concerned Father Abel. She stepped around him and once again headed for the gate, "Leave me be Father, that is all I have ever wanted since I was five, and I want it even more knowing that I was rescued from a slow and lingering death only to be left in the hands of a mad man who likes to push me to the brink of insanity on a celestial level."

"I can't let you leave under the impression that you have done anything wrong," said Abel as he kept pace with her long striding steps. She stopped walking and looked up at him with an expression of disbelief, "Why would you care about me? I opened your mind like a book and read the restricted section. I really am a menace to the human race, maybe my parents should have killed me when they found out what I could do," she shook her head sadly, "No Father, I'm worth no one's compassion. I am a monster from a time before Methuselah or the odd Angels. I am a monster that monsters run in dread of. Forgive me Father but you would never understand what goes through the mind of this little Catholic Strega and the anguish she feels, good bye."

Valentina bowed respectfully and walked to the gate as she ripped the armband off her uniform. She threw the armband at a guard, and ran like her life depended on her attaining maximum speed. Abel turned to Leon, "I'm going after her. No one should be left to the mercy of the Rosenkreuz."

"I agree that we should go after her because I think that Lady Caterina would like to speak with her about what she knows about the Rosenkreuz. But what is your reason for looking for her, huh," asked Leon. Abel let out a sigh, "She is so sad and really believes that she's a monster. I want to let her know that she has a friend in me if she ever wants one."

Valentina stopped running and looked up to see the Fontana di Trevi before her. Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground, "Damn it, why did he care? I'm not used to kindness from anyone but my parents. Oh yeah, my parents aren't alive anymore, I'm alone here."

She stood up and walked to the fountain, "It's nice to see that some things never change even after Armageddon. I wonder if the Santa Maria in Trastevere is still standing."

"It still stands Lady de Medici, why do you ask?"

She turned to find Father Nightroad standing behind her, "Hello Father, Santa Maria is the cathedral where my parents were married, and this is where they first met."

"I see, so, you went to a place that holds happy memories for y…"Valentina cut him off.

"Why are you here, Father? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the concern but you don't know me enough to worry about me."

"Comeback to the Vatican with me, you will be safe there, and we can talk so that I may know you better. Anyway, if you want, I'll be your friend and you don't have to be alone in this world anymore," he smiled at her and held out his hand. She looked at the proffered hand with a note of suspicion but took hold of it anyway, "Lead the way Father Abel."

"Iron Maiden to Crusnik, Father Abel I found some information in connection to the name Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici. She was a powerful psychic with manifested powers that were similar to those of the Methuselah, a skilled martial arts master, a sword master, and a skilled marksman."

"You are using past-tense Sister Kate."

"She disappeared at the age of 26, September of 2007. The de Medici family accused her former boyfriend of her disappearance but her body was never recovered, and in the end they buried an empty coffin to gain closure."

"Thank you Sister Kate."

"Your welcome, Kate out."

Abel looked down at the small woman next to him and wondered what the possibilities were that she was the same as that unfortunate daughter of the de Medici family. He stopped walking and met those frosted emerald eyes, "How old are you Valentina?"

"I'm 26. I was born in Paris, September of 1981, why do you ask?"

"Where were you when the Rosenkreuz took you?"

"Inside a coffin in my ex-boyfriend's basement in New York and then I woke up on a medic's table in an airship with Cain, von Kampfer, and eighteen other men looking down at me. I spent a month in that airship wishing they would just go away. And in case you're wondering, I'm 5'7", weigh 120 pounds, my measurements are 35-25-34, yes this is my natural hair color, my father was Italian which is obvious with a name like de Medici, and my mother was an Irish girl name Mary O'Carrol. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

Abel's face was crimson having begun turning pink at the mention of her measurements and the blush just got darker at the mention of her "natural" hair color. He blinked, "N-no-nothing else Valentina…uh…why were you in a coffin?"

"Because the psychopath wanted to rid the world of a heretic witch that would corrupt anything she touched. And he wanted to know why I hid things from him he couldn't be trusted.

Nobody can be trusted with the knowledge of what I am; my father paid for the finest masters of swordsmanship, marksmanship, and the arts martial to teach me to defend myself as soon as I could walk for fear of people hurting me for being a freak."

"You are not a freak."

"Yes I am, Father Abel. I am a human flamethrower, I can reduce entire cities to rubble with my mind, I can move things with my mind, I am capable of controlling people at a level that Dietrich von Lohengrin is envious of, I can read minds like a book, and I can control the weather in order to use it as I see fit. I have other abilities that I have just discovered and, with the exception of manipulating metal, I don't want to talk about them. Do you still think that I'm not a freak, Father?"

"I would call that gifted if used properly."

"That sounds like what my mother said to me once. She said that God had blessed me with great power to prove he had faith in me. On the other hand, my grandmother told me that the moon was my mother and she gave me to my parents as a mark of her favor. My grandmother was a Strega and 'Strega Francesca' was what the people who lived near by called her," she looked confused, "Why am I telling you any of this I barely know you, Father Abel?"

"Maybe because I am listening without judgment," said Abel and then he smiled at her, "like I said before, you have a friend in me if you wanted one. Ah, here we are."

"And where is here, Father?"

Abel knocked on the door and opened it, "Your Eminence, I have someone I believe you will want to speak with."

"Well, let them in Abel," said a woman's voice from inside the room.

Abel opened the door and led Valentina into Lady Caterina's office, "Your Eminence, may I present Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici. Valentina, this is her Eminence, Cardinal Caterina Sforza the Duchess of Milan."

* * *

An hour later, Lady Caterina had called in several members of her Department of Holy Affairs or AX. Father Leon entered the room and grinned widely at Valentina, "Hey, you found her." 

"Of course I found her," said Abel. Leon just laughed and placed a hand on Valentina's shoulder, "How are you doing cutie?"

"…um uh…I'm ok," she replied as she looked at her hand in Abel's, she hadn't let go for anything, and she felt safer with her hand in his. Leon removed his hand and smiled, "I'm glad to see that you're safe."

"Is this the girl that Abel has been making all this fuss about," asked a stately looking priest holding a pipe. He smiled at her and held out a hand, "I'm William Walter Wordsworth or you can call me Professor if you like."

She shook his hand, "I am Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici and it's nice to meet you, Father William."

She looked around the Professor at the three others she had not met yet and tightened her grip on Abel's hand. Abel looked down at her, "Are you alright, you are looking quite pale even for you?"

"That nun is see-through and the tall man next to her has no psychic pulse."

"That is Sister Kate Scott, she's the captain of the battle airship Iron Maiden. Which man were you referring to?"

"The man with no facial expression."

"That's Father Tres Iques, he's also called Gunslinger."

"Three of ten? Did his parents lack imagination and had ten children that they gave a designation of birth order to instead of a name. That still doesn't explain how come he lacks a psychic pulse or an aura at that. All people even Methuselah have a psychic pulse and an au…oh…yes, I think I understand now," she let go of Abel's hand and walked across the room to Tres, "You're an android aren't you?"

Tres looked down at her, "Positive."

"Nice to meet you Father Tres, I am Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici."

"Positive."

She gave him a quizzical look and turned to the last person to enter the room, "Oh my…um…are you sure this is the Vatican, Father Nightroad?"

"Of course it is why do you ask?"

"Because I think I have died and gone to Heaven. If this is the Vatican, then Cardinal Sforza has been looking for priests at **Hot Guy R' US**. This is not fair, all the eligible cute guys are psychotic and hell bent on world domination or are vampires or both," Valentina smiled at the priest in front of her and held out her hand, "I'm Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici and it's nice to meet you, Father."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Father Vaclav Havel," he said has he gently held her hand. Her eyes grew a little wider and in small voice she said, "Know Faith, you are from Brunn and you were once an Inquisitor."

Havel smiled at her gently, "Now I see why Kate said you wanted to make her an AX agent, Your Eminence. She's a powerful psychic."

Valentina bowed to Havel and walked back to Abel, "Yes, I can also program computers, fix machinery, sew, cook, sing, dance, and speak ten different languages. That is to say I am a luxury but a cute one."

Leon started laughing as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms, "Can we keep her, Your Eminence? She's fun."

Lady Caterina's eyes showed the smile she was hiding, "I was hoping she would join the AX anyway. Will you join our agency Lady de Medici?"

"Put me down, Father Leon," she walked into the center of the room and gave Lady Caterina a gracious bow, "It would be an honor to become a member of the AX, Your Eminence. There are just two little things: firstly, I hacked in to the financial files and found that my bank account is still open and has been collecting interest for nearly a millennia. I would like access to my coffers so thus I will not be taking a vow of poverty. Secondly, although I am Catholic my grandmother raised me to be a Strega and we are a hereditary lot. So, therefore I won't be taking a vow of chastity either. Anyways in the twenty-first century the vow of celibacy became optional and not mandatory."

Caterina gave her an appraising look, "This is acceptable, and your knowledge of Pre-armageddon history will be doubtlessly better than mine."

An hour later, Abel and Leon stood outside the uniform storeroom and listened to the commotion coming from inside. They could hear Sister Angelina, "Be reasonable Sister Valentina, this is what the all the nuns wear."

"I'm in the AX if I have to run or even fight that dress is just going to hinder me…oh…(giggle)… I could work with this dress."

"Well, I guess we could let you have that style. Sister Noelle was the only one that I know of to wear that style of habit although hers had a collar; this thing has a rather low neckline. I think we actually have a couple in your size, Sister. Here we are, and here are your shoes," said Sister Angelina.

"Oh joy of joys, I get to run the hundred meter dash in a pair of three-inch heel. I can run in heels as long as they're not four-inch heels, you could really twist your ankle trying to run in four-inch heels and I know what I'm talking about. I ran four miles in a pair of four-inch heels before and couldn't walk for a week. Thank you for your help, Sister Angelina."

"Your welcome and the dressing room is over there, Sister Valentina"

About ten minutes later Valentina walked into the hallway wearing a slim figure hugging dress with a neckline low enough to see a little of her cleavage and a slit on each side from thigh to hemline.

"So, what do you think," she said as she spun slowly around to show off her new uniform, "Is it really that bad?"

Abel had turned bright pink and had his mouth was wide open. Meanwhile, Leon was grinning at her like she was a piece of aphrodisiatic candy or an alter boy's wet dream. Her stance changed as she moved one leg out to the side and she placed her hands on her hips, "What's the matter with the two of you…oh forget it. I'm going to the dorms to put my other dress away and then I'm going to go shopping for "other" clothes."

She walked off to the dorms with Abel and Leon left staring at her retreating figure. Leon turned to Abel, "Makes you wish that you didn't take the vow of celibacy doesn't she?"

"I-I-I'm not going to hold to that vow long with Valentina dressed like that."

"I got conscripted into this so I didn't make any vows. See you later, Four-Eyes," Leon walked off in the direction of the nun's dorms, "Maybe she would welcome some company when she goes shopping."

Three hours later Abel found Leon lying on a bench in the gardens staring wide-eyed at the sky, "Leon, where have you been?"

"I've been to every high-end clothing store that specializes in women's lingerie in Rome," he started to laugh, " I know how to make Valentina blush now."

"Yes, hold a nightdress up and say, 'you'd look good in this love.' I thought I was going to die of embarrassment, Leon," said Valentina as she stepped out from behind Abel.

"It must have looked good on you. After all, you bought the nightdress cutie…hey," Leon sat up as Valentina placed her foot between his legs, leaned forward and said, "Just stay out of my underwear drawer and I'll forget that you tried to get me to try on fetish wear, ok."

He grinned at her, "Ok, but I still think that black leather is a good look on you."

She rolled her eyes as she stood up and turned to Abel taking his hand, "Father Abel, you said that you would take me to that café you were going on about. I'm buying after all…wha…"

Abel had picked her up in a fireman's carry and ran for the gates, "Good bye Leon."

Leon had fallen off the bench and was sprawled on the ground laughing at the sight of Valentina being whisked away by Abel because of food. '_Well_,' he thought, '_she has to learn not to wave a teacup in front of Abel sometime. Better now than later._'

* * *

"Sister Valentina are you awake," said Abel Nightroad as he poked his head into the nun's dormitory, "Lady Caterina wants a word with us after breakfast and I…oh my…" Valentina was wearing little deep blue baby doll nightdress that stopped at her mid-thigh. 

Abel quickly placed a hand over his eyes, "Sister Valentina, please get dressed."

"I am dressed Abel, you act as though you have never seen my legs before or is it that you…oh…ok I am putting a robe on. It's safe to look now, I have hidden away any temptation."

He removed his hand from his eyes to be met face-to-face by a smiling nun, "You're smiling at me, why are you smiling at me? Valentina stop laughing it's not funny."

"I just think it's cute how a little nightdress, that was doing excellent work in the basic modesty department I might add, got you all worked up. That really is just too cute, Abel."

"We-well good bye," he ran from the room and Valentina could have sworn that even his white hair had a pink tint to it.

Father Leon looked up from the breakfast table to find a pink faced Father Abel followed shortly by a grinning Sister Valentina. He noticed that Abel turned even pinker when Valentina sat next to him and that her shoulders began to shake with silent laughter, "Hey cutie, what so funny?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Leon. Anyway I have a-I have to go, excuse me," Valentina ran from the room. She ran down the hall and out into the gardens, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, you can see in everyone's heart into everyone's mind but your own. What do you want? What do you need to have a happy life?"

She kicked pebbles out of her way, "I want the one thing I can't have, **Him**."

She covered her face and began to cry as she collapsed, and a strange sensation that she had only felt once before came over her. Her large black wings with the purple edging stretched out, and then it began to rain everywhere except on Valentina.

"Valentina are you alright…oh no. What did Cain do to you," said Abel as he ran out into the rain to find her. She looked around one wing to see Father Nightroad and fear crept into her heart, "Father Abel, stay away from me. I told you there were things I discovered recently that I didn't want anyone to know about and now you see that I really am a monster."

"You are not a monster, Valentina. A beautiful and very scared girl perhaps but not a monster," said Abel as he took a few steps closer. Valentina jumped to her feet and turned to face him with dark liquid flowing down her face. The darkness of the lachrymose liquid secreting from her eyes indicated that she was crying blood tears. Abel found it odd that, although she cried blood tears, had those beautiful wings, and had developed a pair of fangs she still looked the same. Her long blood auburn hair was floating in her power like water and only the irises of her eyes glowed like stars trapped inside frosted emeralds but, she looked more human at 80 Crusnik form than anyone else. With one delicate hand she reached to the sky and the rain stopped with a loud rumbling sound, "Stay away, Father Abel."

"I can't do that Valentina, I am your friend remember," he said as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. Her body changed back to human form and she pushed at his chest weakly, "Let me go, Father. I'm not safe to be…oh…you're one too."

He gave her a little smile, "Yes, I am. Now, why did you run away?"

She shook her head sorrowfully, "I can't tell you that, Abel," the way she had said his name was more like a melodiously soft breath on his heart, "Please Abel, let me go."

He let her go and followed her out of the gardens, "What did Cain do to you, Valentina?"

"He let the Rosenkreuz infuse me with his blood. Now, I have wings and fangs if I loose control. I'd like to see my grandmother try to explain that as Diana's blessing," she said as they headed for Caterina's office.

"Valentina, you have to tell Her Eminence that you are a Crusnik. She will accept you for who and what you are," he gave her a worried look, "You need to tell someone what's bothering you, it doesn't have to be me, but you should tell someone."

"I'm regretting not making a barrier by taking the vow of chastity, because now after a month of being in the AX I have developed feelings for some of my fellow AX agents, feelings that are not appropriate due to the fact that most of you have taken the vow of chastity. Now, do you see why I said that I couldn't tell you, Abel," she picked up her pace as she looked at her feet, leaving Abel behind. He was standing in the middle of the hall in complete bewilderment.

'_Not me_,' Abel thought, '_you cannot have fallen in love with me, Valentina. No my dear friend, my little Tina, not me.'_

When Abel reached the door to Lady Caterina's office he found that Valentina was leaning against the wall waiting for him. She smiled at him, "Come on slowpoke lets not keep Her Eminence waiting any longer."

"You're in a good mood. What happened to change…" he stopped talking when Valentina's eyes flashed with a glimmer of knowledge. She pushed herself off the wall and stood in front of him making him very aware of how much taller he was than she. A playful grin crossed her beautiful ruby lips and she said in a dulcet purr, "Whose Tina? Do I have to tell Her Eminence that you have a girlfriend?"

He began to blush, "Wh-wh-what?! I don't have a girlfriend."

"What you mean I'm not your friend. I thought I was your friend and I'm a girl."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, so you do have a girlfriend," her grin had been playful but, now it was positively naughty.

"You're picking on me."

"Of course I am. So, now who is this Tina that flits and flutters through your mind?

"Tina is just a name that I use in my thoughts to refer to you, Valentina," he noticed that her smile had softened and grew warmer. She turned to the office door, "Tina, I like it. Shall we go speak with Her Eminence now?"

Abel nodded and they entered the room.

* * *

Half an hour later, Lady Caterina was staring at Valentina in curiosity, this pretty young woman was a Crusnik and a powerful psychic she was just full of surprises. She straightened the papers on her desk and then looked at Abel and Valentina, "Sister Valentina de Medici your AX codename will be 'Seraphim.' But what I wanted to speak with the two of you about is that we have received reports stating that in the Kingdom of Hispania there has been Rosenkreuz activity in Sevilla to be precise. Now I need to send in a small unit and they cannot be openly from the Vatican. So, therefore I am sending 'Dandelion' and 'Sword Dancer' with the two of you. I have already briefed them on their position in this mission, even if Father Hugue isn't happy about it." 

"No disrespect meant, Your Eminence, but why didn't you brief us with Father Hugue and Father Leon," said Valentina.

" I called you in separately from Hugue and Leon, because I needed to speak with the two of you alone. I needed two of my agents who work well together to pull this off, and according to Kate and Vaclav you have a particular…affinity with each other. Now your cover will be that of a newly wedded couple on their honeymoon. Hugue and Leon will be posing as friends that you have agreed to meet with at the hotel and if anyone gets suspicious Leon has been given orders to create a diversion. Any questions?"

"Well Your Eminence, I don't have any civilian clothes. So, don't you think that I should stay here," said Abel as Valentina began to giggle. She took his arm, "No questions, Your Eminence," and she headed for the door with a playful smile, "Come on Honey, lets get you kitted up."

"This isn't funny, Valentina," he said as they left the room and the last thing Lady Caterina heard was Valentina saying, "Call me Tina, please Abel. This is going to be fun."

* * *

Valentina sat in front of the dressing room, "Abel? Did the mirror swallow you or something? You've been in there for a while." 

"I look silly," came the complaint from behind the curtains. Valentina shook her head, "Abel, you are silly. Now just come out from behind the curtains so I may see how you look."

He stuck his head out, "No," and closed the curtains again.

"Then I am going to go in there with you, Abel."

"No-no, I'm coming out. Just don't come in here," he said as he left the dressing room. He was wearing a black suit that accentuated his figure to its best. It had a pale blue waistcoat that brought out his eyes, a coat that stopped at his hips, and the pants fit perfectly. The suit fit like a glove, " See, I told you that I looked silly…what?"

Valentina was hiding her face behind her hands, "You look great Abel."

"Then why are you hiding your face," he leaned forward to be eye level with her where she sat. She lowered her hands to reveal to Abel that she was blushing in that pretty way that natural red heads do. Valentina stood up and looked at the salesgirl that was helping them, "We'll take this suit and two others of the same size and cut but, one in navy blue and the other in dark gray with a pale gray waistcoat."

"Yes, Miss," said the young woman and she scurried off to get the requested suits.

"You don't have to buy me anything, Tina," said Abel.

"Abel, we are friends and I like to spoil my friends. Besides I could have three palaces the size of Hispania commissioned and I would still have an obscene amount of money, So, I might as well put it to good use."

"Well you need to get something for yourself."

"I'm planning on it because I do not intend on running around Hispania in a nun's habit. As a matter of fact that is my next step."

Abel closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "You look beautiful, Tina."

Valentina was standing in front of him wearing a long black figure hugging velvet dress with a skirt that draped gracefully off her hips, long slender sleeves that belled out at the wrist to show how dainty and refined her hands were, and a neckline that showed just enough cleavage to be alluring and still be modest. She crossed her arms, "Your eyes are closed, Abel. How can you possibly know how I look?"

He opened his eyes and fell off the chair, "An Angel."

"Very funny, Abel. But I will take that as a compliment though," said Valentina as she walked back to the dressing room. She closed the curtains and smiled as she thought, '_He called me an Angel._'

Abel closed his eyes again and thought, '_I hope that this feeling passes, or working with her will be problematic._'

"What about this dress, Abel? I think it's cute but the color may be a bit much."

He looked up to find her wearing a little sundress with a fitted bodice, spaghetti straps, and a full thigh length skirt; it was pink. He got up off the floor and was noticeably blushing, "Maybe in a blue."

"You're blushing, Abel…oh sorry…the legs…maybe they have one that has a little longer skirt in an icy blue," and she walked off coming back a few minutes later with an icy blue dress that was exactly the same as the pink and a white dress. She came out of the dressing room in the white dress which was just like the pink sundress except it had a skirt that stopped just below her knees, "What about this…why are you blushing now…never mind."

When they got back to the Vatican, Valentina began to complain about how difficult picking clothes out with Abel had been. Leon started to laugh and hugged her, "What's the matter, Cutie? Did Abel make you self conscious?"

"No, he just kept blushing no matter what I wore," she said as she snuggled into Leon's embrace, "My father used to hug me when I was upset, or just needed to be held. I have missed hugs for the sake of the closeness, thank you Leon."

Leon smiled, "You're welcome."

She closed her eyes as she reveled in the warmth of his strong form, and fell asleep after whispering, "I am home."

Leon picked her up, carried her to the nun's dormitories, and put her to bed. He walked off wondering how long it would be before the stress of missing her family would take its toll.

* * *

The following day, Valentina was heading out to get a few items for the mission when she ran into Father Leon and Father Hugue. Leon was laughing at Hugue's indignation towards the impending mission. 

"Hello gentlemen," she said with a heartwarming smile.

"Hello Cutie, where are you off to," said Leon and laughed even harder when Hugue grimaced at the mention of Leon's pet name for Valentina. Hugue had developed a soft spot for Valentina in the past month since she had joined the AX, even though he had never let her know. He really didn't understand how she could ignore the fact that Leon was constantly flirting with her. He also didn't understand how she affected Father Nightroad the way she did. But most of all he didn't understand how one little smile from her would captivate him, and now she was standing in front of him raising a hand slowly to his forehead, "Are you feeling well, Father Hugue?"

Hugue grabbed her wrist and mentally curst his wandering mind for allowing her to get that physically close to him. He noticed the look of mild surprise on Valentina's face and let go of her wrist, "I'm fine, Sister."

"Are you sure, because I told both you and Leon that I was in charge of our disguises and only Leon responded," she looked concerned.

"I'm fine and I don't need a disguise."

"You have civilian clothes then?"

"No."

"Then you need to come with Leon and I to acquire suitable clothing for the two of you."

"No I don't."

"You cannot go in priest's robes. You are suppose to be a friend meeting us at the hotel, not the priest that married us."

"I could be there for the reception."

"There isn't going to be a reception. Now, you are coming with me, or I will be forced to do something regrettable."

"Like what?"

"This," she flicked her hand and Hugue found himself about an inch off the ground, "this is such a vulgar display but you left me no choice. So, if I have to play puppet master in order to get you appropriately attired then so be it."

With tears sparkling in her eyes she stood on her toes and leaned forward in order to be eyelevel with him, "This gives me no pleasure, Father Hugue. I am sorry that it has come to this."

The sight of tears glittering in her beautiful eyes caused an ache in Hugue's heart because it reminded him of the fact that both of them no longer had a family.

She sat in front of the dressing rooms red velvet curtains with Hugue standing behind her, "Leon?"

Leon stepped out of the dressing room and grinned as Valentina's eyes roved over his body. He was wearing a pare of pant that seemed to hug his small waist and hips, an ivory colored shirt under a dark gray waistcoat, and a black coat that was draped over one arm. The shirt and waistcoat showed off the attractive swell of his chest and broad shoulders like a piece of highly addictive candy, and sloped beautifully down to his waist.

"You look magnificent Leon, but why are you not wearing the coat? Doesn't it fit," said Valentina.

"The coat fits just fine, Cutie."

"Then why aren't you wearing it?"  
"Because I want your opinion on the back of the suit," he turned around to show off how the pants molded to the contours of his rear. Valentina closed her eyes and let out a nervous laugh, "Stop shaking your butt at me Leon and put on the coat, please."

He put on the coat and turned to face Valentina whose cheeks were pink form a mixture of pure embarrassment and a realization that she felt an attraction to this man, "Well what do you think?" She opened her eyes, stood up, and smoothed out the lines of the suit. She stepped back and smiled, "Perfection. If you were not a priest, you would be a heartbreaker. I know that if I had known you before I ended up in that coffin that I would have asked you out on a date."

She turned to a salesgirl and requested two more suits of the same cut and size, one in charcoal gray, and one in medium blue with a black waistcoat and pants. Then she turned to Hugue and smiled, "Your turn."

"No."

Valentina sighed as she latched on to his arm and began to pull him towards the dressing room, "Now please, just try on one suit. Otherwise, I'll be forced to treat you like a puppet and that means I can see what you see. I don't think that would be appropriate seeing that I am to be married soon, don't you agree."

Hugue gave her an odd look while Leon laughed at how well Valentina fell into the role of new bride. Hugue just nodded and went into the dressing room.

Fifteen minutes later Hugue had not emerged from the dressing room and Valentina finally decided to poke her head through the curtains to see what was taking him so long. He was just standing there, still in his robes with his eyes closed. She stepped inside and gently touched his arm, "Hugue, you have to try something on. Otherwise, we will be here all day."

"Why are you so determined?"

"Because I know how we need to look for this mission. Not to mention that I happen to like seeing how the right suit can enhance a person's beauty, both inner and outer beauty," she said as see played with a strand of Hugue's wavy blonde hair between her fingers as her hand lay on his arm, it was a tactile thing.

"I can't," Hugue's jade green eyes flashed with a momentary hint of loss, "I'm not the kind of man to do missions like this and Cardinal Sforza knew that when she assigned me. I joined the AX in order to fulfill my vengeance on those responsible for my family's death. This makes me feel as though I'm turning my back on their memory."

Valentina's eyes grew wide, "That is the most I have ever heard you say in one sitting."

She shook her head and smiled compassionately, "You wont be turning your back on the memory of your family. I don't have anyone here that I can call family, not for almost a millennia, and I haven't lost hope in making something resembling a family with my friends and fellow AX agents. Look, revenge is an on going cycle that will follow you throughout your life. And if you finally kill everyone involved in your family's demise, you will have nothing left to live for because you wrapped your whole world around revenge. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to just live the best life you can."

"I died that day. I have nothing left, no one will be waiting for me," he said as he finally noticed that she was playing with his hair. She let go of his hair, touched his arm gently, and smiled at his expressionless face, "You are not alone. You have a friend in me and I will wait for you to come home safely."

Hugue stared into her eyes and knew that she meant every word she had just said. There was a touch of warmth in her eyes, her eyes flashed as her grip on his arm got harder, and she moved faster than anyone he had ever seen.

Leon heard a commotion from behind the curtains and a few minuets later Valentina walked out of the dressing room with a guarded grin pulling Hugue out from behind the curtains. He was a vision to behold in a suit that was only two shades lighter than navy blue. He looked like the noble man that he had been born to be, and the suit looked like it had been made for him alone with a waistcoat in a pale gray. The effect of the blue made his jade eyes seem to glow. Valentina smiled at Hugue with a trace of heat in her eyes that he knew her to be oblivious to, "You look fabulous, Hugue it really becomes you."

She walked away with the salesgirl to order two more suits for Hugue and then returned with some extra accessories for the two men standing in front of her. She was quite proud of her control because without it, no vow in the world would have protected the three men she would be going to Sevilla with.

On their way back to the Vatican, Valentina's eye was caught by a dress in a window display. The dress was in all white with long slender chiffon sleeves, a fitted bodice and a long skirt that draped off the hip in satin, it was a bridal gown. Leon noticed as note of sadness enter her eyes as she began to walk away. He latched onto her arm and pulled her into the bridal shop, "Come on, have a little fun. If you're not happy how can I be, huh Cutie?"

A woman walked out of the back room, "May I help you?"

"Yes, my friend is getting married next week and the silly girl worked so hard on all the planning and arrangements that she completely forgot about her bridal gown," said Leon with a wink at a very bemused Valentina.

"I would be happy to help your friend. Is there a particular style that you were looking for, Miss?" "She showed an interest in the dress in the window display," said Leon grinning at Valentina's look of complete shock. The woman looked at Valentina, took her hand, and led her toward the back room, "Yes, I believe that I have that particular style of dress in exactly your size."

An hour later the woman emerged with an associate to lead Valentina out to the mirror in the main part of that shop. She was wearing the dress from the window with a bridal veil, and she was carrying a bouquet of roses, her eyes were closed. Hugue and Leon stared at the vision of beauty in front of them and found themselves speechless. Valentina opened her frosted emerald eyes and gasped at the image in the mirror. It started as a small curve of the corners of her mouth and then it became a full out smile of euphoric happiness. She was lost in a dream even if that dream would last for only a few moments.

"I-I," Valentina was speechless for the first time in her life.

"She will take it," said an unlikely voice. She turned to Hugue with a look that clearly said that she couldn't believe that he of all people had just said that and he simply nodded to her. Half an hour later, they left with the dress, the veil, a pair of heels that matched the dress, and three pictures of her in the bridal gown. For some reason, that he wouldn't tell her, Leon took two of the pictures.

"What possessed you to do this Leon," said the still rather mystified Valentina.

"Because it made you smile," said Leon; "anyway I'm not the one who committed you to buying the dress. That was Hugue."

"She is still smiling, so, stop trying to place blame," said Hugue and then ha picked up his pace. As he passed Valentina, he flashed her a smile that was even more scarce that his length of speech.

* * *

A week later as they were getting ready to leave for the train station, Abel found Valentina sitting on her bed as she looked inside a large white box. She smiled, as she looked at the contents of the box, the smile could only be described as cute. She looked up at Abel, closed the box, and placed it under her bed. 

"Is it time to go," she asked as she walked to him with her suitcase and a guitar case.

"Just about…um…I didn't know you could play guitar," said Abel as he looked at the instrument case with interest. She smiled at him, set both cases down, and pulled out her purse. She extracted two rings from the recesses of the purse, "We are supposed to be married. Therefore, we need wedding rings and this one is yours."

She took his left hand and placed the plain gold wedding band on his ring finger. Abel stared at the gold band in curiosity; until he noticed that Valentina was preparing to place a gold band with a star sapphire on her own hand.

"Allow me. It's only fair after you put my ring on me that I do the same for you," said Abel as he took hold of the ring and placed it on her finger with care.

He held her hand as he stared at the ring, "We have to go soon."

"Well let go of my hand, so, that I may pick up my luggage. I kind of need both hands for that ok, Abel," Valentina noticed how nervous he was, his nervousness was practically blinding her psychic abilities. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile, "It will be alright, Abel. Now lets get out of here or we'll miss our train."

He gave her a nervous smile as they left the room and Valentina hoped that he would relax before they arrived in Sevilla.

* * *

"Abel, stop fidgeting with the ring." 

"I'm not used to rings, Tina."

"You're not supposed to be used to the ring but, I don't have a spare if you lose it."

"Yours doesn't match mine, aren't they supposed to match?"  
Valentina leaned forward and gently kissed his lips, "Calm down Abel."

Abel stared at her as his cheeks turned pink. She smiled as she took his hand in hers, "A bride's ring may match the groom's, or it may have a gem stone to indicate it as being the bride's ring," she let go of his and touched his cheek as she stood up, "Now, please stop stalling. The train will be arriving in Sevilla in about ten minutes."

Valentina climbed on to the seat to pull her suitcase down from the luggage rack. She set the suitcase down and climbed back up to get her guitar case, which held an antique guitar that she had become quite fond of. The train rocked a little causing her foot to slip and a pair of men's hand wrapped around her waist just before had she lost her balance. Valentina looked over her shoulder to find a very nervous looking Abel holding her waist. She smiled at him, took hold of her guitar case, and set it down. Still standing on the seat she turned to face him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered, "Help me down please."

He lifted her off the seat and lowered her to the floor. She giggled a little at the fact that Abel had begun to blush when their eyes had met. Valentina touched his shoulder, "You can let go of my waist now, Abel. Thank you for helping me."

"O-ok," he let go of her and touched the back of his head with a nervous smile.

* * *

Dietrich von Lohengrin watched a very familiar couple walk into the hotel lobby for the elevators and walked to the front desk, "Who are they?" 

The desk clerk looked in the direction that the young man was indicating, "Who are who?"

"The couple walking into the lounge, the tall man with white hair and the woman with the long blood auburn hair. Who are they?"

The clerk noticed the couple in question and said, "Oh them? That's Mr. and Mrs. Lang, they're newlyweds just recently arrived from Rome. They're on their honeymoon."

"I see, thank you," said Dietrich and he walked away thinking, 'There is something familiar about those two. No doubt, Master will be interested in them.'

His back was to them now, so, he didn't see Valentina's face when she turned to look at him. She turned back to Abel, "Be careful Abel, I just saw Dietrich von Lohengrin. He's Von Kampfer's protégé and has no compunction about informing his masters about what he sees. Which means if he recognizes me we're going to have trouble."

"We will do our best, that is all Caterina expects of us," he said with a smile that put her at ease. She smiled back, "I suppose you're right."

"There they are Hugue. I told you they would be here any moment," said Leon from a small table in the lounge. Valentina thought, '_Showtime_,' and smiled at Abel, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then she ran to the open arms of Leon giggling and hugged him as he twirled her around. He sat her back on her feet and smiled in devious manner as he waggled his eyebrows, "How is your honeymoon so far, Tina?"

She gave him a playful poke in the ribs, "Just fine thank you and not really any of your business, Leon."

She turned to Hugue and gave him a hug that left him to once again contemplate what she had said about being there for him. He finally realized why he had been chosen for this mission. Valentina and him looked enough alike to be considered brother and sister or at least cousins. He chose to act accordingly and hugged her back, "I'm sorry that I missed your wedding cousin."

Valentina didn't portray any surprise at his words but just smiled at him, "You're here now and that's what is really important to me, Hugue."

The closeness they shared, from the loss of their families, made Abel and Leon feel superfluous at that moment. Anyone who was watching this display would have marveled at how their hair, blonde and blood auburn respectively, mingled to make a copper color and would have thought more of reunited siblings rather than cousins. A hand touched Valentina's shoulder and she turned to face Abel's concerned face. She knew he was right, that this would draw attention to them and would raise questions. She smiled at Hugue and walked back to Abel with a loving smile aimed at him so everyone in the lounge could see how much this new bride cared for her husband. He smiled back at her but he started to blush when he realized that he was looking into her frosted emerald eyes.

The four spent the next hour talking in the lounge as they observed the people in the hotel. They kept asking Valentina to verify whether a person was part of the Orden or not. She had verified about five members of the Orden Helga von Vogelweide, Susan von Scorzeny, and the Neumann Brothers – Kasper, Melchior, and Balthasar. Then she went pale at the sight of a tall man with blonde hair and a carefree smile, and in a helpless whisper that was barely audible she said, "_**Cain**_."

She excused herself from the table and ran for her and Abel's room before Cain could notice that she was even there. Abel looked at Hugue and Leon, "We will see you tonight but I better go and see if Tina's alright."

"Are you alright, Tina," asked Abel as he closed the door. She rolled over on the bed to look at him, before that she had been trying to be as still as possible like a rabbit hiding in the grass waiting for the predator to pass by. She was so pale and her eyes were as big as saucers, Abel was worried, "What's the matter, Tina? You look really scared."

She jumped off the bed and ran to him with tears in her eyes, "_**He's **_here Abel, and if _he_ finds me he'll never let me go again. Abel, I am really scared."

"Who's here Tina? Who has scared our little Seraphim," Abel said as he held her trembling body in his arms and petted her hair. It was a useless movement yet for some reason it was very comforting to Valentina. She stopped trembling and looked up at him, "He is the destroyer of dreams…the enemy of the world. He is the Contra Mundi."

Abel brushed her hair out of her face, "I wont let him take you away."

"It's unavoidable if he finds me, Abel. He will take me away and I will be forced into his war…" she shuddered, "…and his bed."

"No! I wont let him take you away from us," Abel's voice was unusually grim and the look on his face was thunderous.

"Why do you worry so much about me," asked a rather confused Valentina. She wondered why he was always there for her but most of all she wondered, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, why there was a sensation of butterflies in her tummy every time she was near Father Abel. A hand touching her forehead brought her back form her reflections, "W-what?"

"You are unnaturally cold to the touch, Tina," his voice was full with concern, "you need to rest until tonight."

"Abel, I-I'm f -fine, I just…" she began to go faint and he picked her up. Abel laid her down on the bed, got a damp washcloth, and placed it gently on her forehead and said softly, "I worry because I am your friend, and it's my job to care."

He pulled a chair next to the bed a watched over her as she slept and thought to himself, '_I worry because I love you but you must never know, my little Tina. Don't worry about the Contra Mundi. I would die to keep you safe from him._'

* * *

The following day found Abel chasing down Valentina as she began to run out the door, "Tina…stop…please." 

"Come on Abel it's beautiful outside, lets enjoy it," said Valentina as she stopped in the doorway of the hotel to face Abel. He found it hard to concentrate on her words because the sun was shinning behind her making him very aware of the silhouette of her legs through her white sundress. She latched onto his arm, pulled him out the door, and led him under a large shade tree, "I figured that we need to be seen doing more than just sitting in the lounge. People could get suspicious of the nice couple that sits in the lounge all day with their friends when they are on their honeymoon. Don't you agree, Abel?"

Abel thought on this and nodded as he privately thanked God for shade, it saved him from temptation. They spent several hours sitting under the tree as they continued their observation of the Rosenkreuz. Then Abel went inside to talk to Leon and Hugue.

There was a small pond on the hotel grounds that was in sight of the lounge windows and that was where Valentina went. She at the ponds edge and dipped her feet in the water with a grin of child-like innocence on her mouth. Hugue looked out the window to see a tall blonde man sit next to her, and begin a conversation with her. Hugue turned his attention back to the conversation that was going on between Abel, Leon, and himself. Several minutes passed, Abel looked outside to find a man trying to force himself on Valentina and ran out of the hotel with Leon and Hugue not far behind him.

* * *

"Hello Valentina," said a voice that set the little hairs on the back of her neck on end. She looked up to see the one man she had prayed that she would never have to see again and she turned her attention back to the feel of her feet in the water to avoid him. He sat down next to her and began to play with her blood auburn hair with a sigh that sounded hungry, "I missed your hair, Valentina. I missed your eyes and the calming affect that touching your skin had on me." 

"You must be mistaken, sir. My name is Tina Lang and I'm here on my honeymoon, so, kindly release of my hair," said Valentina as she stared at his reflection in the water and knew that he didn't believe her. He laughed as he ran a finger down her cheek, "I know that is simply not true and your 'Groom' is my brother Abel. So, don't play games with me 'Tina'…ha…did my brother give you that name, I bet he did."

She closed her eyes and pushed at him, "LEAVE ME ALONE."

Cain smiled at the sound of her raised voice, he had missed the intoxicating sound of her rage vocalized, "Yell all you want Valentina, I will not go away."

He pressed her to the ground and kissed her as she kicked and struggled to get away. She got a hand loose, called on her pyrokinetic powers, and planted her burning hand in his face. He stood up, she kicked him in to the water, and then she began to crawl away from the pond. Abel ran up to Valentina, picked her up, and carried her back to the hotel with her clinging to him as if he was life itself. He didn't say anything because it would sound stupid to ask if she was all right, of course she wasn't. Abel took her to their room, wrapped her in one of his coats, and paced the room as he berated himself for leaving her alone. Leon entered the room followed by Hugue and looked at Valentina with concern, "We lost him. How is she holding up?"

"She's a little shaken up but doing ok," said Valentina in a small voice and then she shook her head, "What happened?"

"You were attacked," said Hugue, he was answered with a blank face, "You don't remember being attacked, do you?"

"No, are you sure I was attacked?"

Abel looked at Hugue and Leon, "I'll take care of her. But after this incident, I think we should be going back to Rome soon."

"I second that notion," said Leon and Hugue just gave a curt nod.

* * *

That night Abel was woken by whimpering and found that Valentina was having a nightmare. He gently shook her but she didn't wake, she just swung at him. He held her arms down as he tried to talk her out of the nightmare, "Tina…Tina, wake up. It's just a bad dream, Tina." 

He found that she had started to kick at the world in general instead of waking and he was forced to pin her legs as he continued to try to wake her. She finally opened her eyes to find a pare of brilliant blue eyes looking down at her with white hair and then the rest of Abel's face filled in, "Abel, why are you holding me to the bed?"

"I tried to wake you but you kept trying to beat on me," he smiled down at her, "you are stronger that you look…um…if I let you up do you promise not to beat on me?"

She nodded and he sat at the end of the bed to give her space. Valentina had a nagging feeling that Abel knew something and wasn't letting her know, "Did something happen today that I can't remember?"

Abel looked unhappy, it was obvious that he didn't want to tell her but, in a somber voice he said, "You were attacked by a man today."

"Who w…" she remembered the touch of the man's finger as he ran it down her cheek and the sound of rapture in his voice when she had yelled at him, "the Contra Mundi."

Tears of fear and sorrow filled her eyes as she flung her arms around Abel "I'm scared and I don't want to be alone."

He wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair, "I'm not going anywhere, Tina. You have nothing to fear."

They lay down on the bed still holding each other and she fell asleep, and didn't have another nightmare for the rest of the night. She woke up to the sound of a camera and found Father Leon standing next to the bed with a camera and a mischievous grin.

Valentina sat up frowning at him, "What trouble are you up to, Leon?"

"Just getting a picture of the two of you asleep. You look so beautiful when you're asleep, Valentina. Anyway, I needed to talk to you," he said as he pocketed the camera, pulled a chair next to the bed, and sat down grinning at her nightdress, "you look good in black."

"You said you needed to talk, Leon. I highly doubt the color of my nightdress was what you snuck in here to speak to me about," she said with a smile.

"Abel, Hugue, and I agree that we should go back to Rome tomorrow after what happened yesterday. You do remember what happened right?"

"The Contra Mundi tried to take advantage of me. If that's what you mean," her face was paler then it had been a minute ago.

"Good you remember. Now we may have to create a diversion tonight, ok," he looked worried about her, "What I was planning on doing was trying to steal you from Abel tonight in the lounge. So, don't be surprised if I start to act out. What?"

Valentina was laughing enough to shake the bed, which woke Abel. He noticed that his arms were wrapped around Valentina's waist and reddened with embarrassment, "Pardon me."

* * *

That night Valentina noticed Von Kampfer and Dietrich walking toward their table and she grabbed Leon's hand. He seemed to understand her meaning because he stood up and looked at Abel, "Abel my friend, I'm sorry to do this on you r honeymoon of all times but I'm in love with Tina." 

"What," Abel was thunderstruck, "b-but-but…what?!"

Abel had stopped staring incredulously at Leon and was now looking in wide-eyed astonishment at Hugue, who was whispering in Valentina's ear. She turned to Hugue with a smile and kissed his lips with what seemed to be wholehearted passion. Leon turned to find Hugue holding Valentina in a passionate embrace. Abel latched onto Valentina and carried her off to their room being followed by Leon and Hugue who looked as though they were in a heated argument, leaving Von Kampfer and Dietrich both rather bewildered. Abel sat her on the bed and turned on Hugue and Leon once they entered the room, "What was that all about?"

"It's called a diversion," said Leon, who was still staring at Hugue in disbelief, "I can't believe that _you_ let her _kiss_ you."

"I told her to," said Hugue as he sat next to Valentina. She stood up and pulled Abel out on the balcony, "I need to talk to you, Abel. Leon told me that we might need a diversion tonight. He also told me what he was planning to do if it came to that. He needed me to know, but you get the best reactions when things are a surprise to you. And Hugue just told me to kiss him because it would cause more confusion and he had noticed the same thing that I had, that Isaak von Kampfer and Dietrich von Lohengrin were heading for our table."

She gave Abel a hug, "I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark."

"That's quite alright. Now, that I know the three of you hadn't lost your sanity…you had me really worried abo-mmpphh," she had stopped his words by kissing him, he knew that he _should_ break the kiss but he just _didn't want to_. So, Valentina was the one to be surprised this time because Abel kissed her back. There was a clicking sound of a camera and they looked back into the room to find Leon with his camera and a roguish smile, "I had to get that picture. No one would have believed me otherwise."

"Good night, Leon," said Valentina with a pseudo-scowl that turned into a playful grin.

"Good night, Cutie," Leon grinned at her as he left the room. Hugue stood up and nodded at Valentina and Abel just before he left the room. Abel looked down at Valentina and gave her a gentle smile, "Good night Tina."

"Good night Abel," said Valentina as she wished that her feelings for him weren't on her face for him to see them. All she could think was, '_One more night to be close to Abel and then we will be getting far away from Cain._'

They headed back to Rome that following day and when they returned to the Vatican, Valentina requested to be transferred to working at the orphanage with Leon. Her reasons were her own but they involved removing herself from temptation, in other words **Father Abel Nightroad**.

* * *

One month after Valentina's transfer to the orphanage she found that she was fond of working with the children. It felt like being a mother to nearly one hundred children and she love it. She loved and dotted on children in her care, she told them stories that had been long lost after Armageddon, and sang lullabies to the fretful. Father Leon still teased and flirted with her but only when the children weren't looking. The children had even given her a nickname, _Beautiful Angel,_ or for the children from the Franc Kingdom, _Belle Ange._ Valentina was finally at peace with her life when all of a sudden her life crumbled to ash and she couldn't fix it. 

There had been a terrorist attack in Londonium when Pope Alessandro had been touring the Underground Factory also know as the Ghetto. Leon had been sent to Albion and Valentina started to spend more time in Cardinal Sforza's office waiting for news about her fellow AX agents. The Cardinal received news that the Pope and Sister Esther were safe when Valentina had been entering the room with a laden tea tray. Then they received news of Abel's death at the hands of Cain. The silence was absolutely painful but it didn't compare to the sound of breaking china followed by Valentina's sobbing. Vaclav tried to comfort her to no avail, she ran from the Vatican and out into the warm night air of Rome. Tears shimmered in the light of the twin moon as Valentina tried to blink them away, and then she fell to her knees clutching at two rings on a chain around her neck. They had been the rings that her and Abel had worn on their mission in Sevilla and she had kept them close to her heart ever since her arrival back in Rome. She let out a mournful scream that could have broken hearts and torn souls a sunder, and it began to rain. The cold droplets of water hid her tears as she got up and went to _her _tomb, Lilith's tomb.

* * *

Lady Caterina Sforza had people looking for Valentina for two days before she received the message. There was a holographic image of Valentina wearing a black nun's habit with whit trim. She looked up at Cardinal Caterina, and began to speak, "Please forgive me Your Eminence, I have done something greatly against my better judgment. I have fallen in love with a fellow AX agent and now that he is gone I grieve his death. This has influenced my decision to leave this world, and by the time you receive this message, I should have all systems running on the second moon also known as '_The ARK_.' I will stay there until I have amassed enough strength to destroy the Contra Mundi, so, that he may never harm anyone ever again. But if I never return, please inform Father Leon that my guitar and story books that I compiled of the pre-armageddon children's tale go to the children of the orphanage, and the rest of my holdings are to be divided equally between the orphanage, the Vatican, and the Kingdom of Albion. The instructions about the division are at the end of my personnel file. Good bye Your Eminence, and please send my love to the AX and the Pope." 

Cardinal Sforza was staring in disbelief at the now still image of Valentina, and noticed the loss in her eyes. No, she refused to give up on the hope that Sister de Medici would return but she wasn't going to be the one to tell her that Father Abel was alive. News like that would either cause Valentina to call her a liar or the shock would kill her. It would be best for her if she found out that he was alive on her own.

* * *

"Iron Maiden to Crusnik, come in Father Nightroad." 

"Yes, Sister Kate?"

"Cardinal Sforza requires your immediate presence in Rome, Abel."

"She knows that I am hunting the-" he was cut off.

"It's about Agent Seraphim, Abel."

"What happened to Valentina," the words caused a sinking feeling in his heart as he asked. There was dead silence from Kate for several minutes the Abel could hear sobs, "She's gone."

"Gone where? When? How?"

"Well she has been missing for a month and we had all hoped she would have returned by now."

"Why am I just now being told about this, Kate?"

"Cardinal Sforza was uncertain as to how Sister Valentina would react to you being alive. But it has been a month and Seraphim's messages have become increasingly morose and you seem to be the key to breaking her out of this state of mind she is currently in. Abel, when I look at her messages with the Cardinal, I don't see the carefree young woman we all came to know and love."

"But where is she, perhaps I can bring her back to the Vatican," Abel knew it was grasping at straws because if the rest of the AX was unable to find her then what chance did he have.

"Once you look to the second moon you will know where she is and exactly how she got there."

Abel looked up to the second moon also known as the vampires moon and knew how she had gotten there but there was a nagging question in the back of his mind, "Why did she go up there?"

"I think Cardinal Sforza should be the one to explain that. I'll be there in five minutes to take the Earl of Memphis and you to the Vatican, Kate out."

* * *

Abel ran into the Cardinal's office to find that the AX was in a state of melancholy. Caterina was talking to a hologram of a nun in a black habit with glowing skin and every agent to call 'Tina' friend was in a corner looking at books of what looked like children's stories. The word funeral came to mind as Abel looked around the room, and then he quickly waved that thought aside, she couldn't be dead. 

"This book is amazing, and to think she wrote all of these lost pre-armageddon tales from memory," said Father William as he looked through a book that had had the words 'A Collection of Grim Tales By the Brothers Grimm' lovingly written in gold paint on the black cover. Meanwhile, Father Hugue was looking at a book that had the words 'Children's Songs and Lullabies From Around the World' written carefully of the cover of the blue book. Leon looked up from a book that was simply titled 'My Poems' and handed it to Father Havel. He walked to Abel with a letter, "Here Abel, she gave me instructions to give you this in event of her death."

"She's not dead," Abel, said as he thought, '_She can't be dead._'

"It helps for me to think that she is. Otherwise, I get the urge to destroy the contents of any room I'm in," said Leon as he walked back to the others with his fist clinched. Abel noticed that Leon seemed to be suppressing his grief and it was converting into barley-contained rage. He looked at the hologram that Caterina was speaking with. It was a sad eyed Valentina, but her skin was glowing and she spoke in a voice that seemed to echo with the ages, "It has been a long time You Eminence, I don't think I will ever be strong enough to destroy the Contra Mundi. So, I have sent the ship back to earth on autopilot and it should be arriving to its original landing coordinates in about an hour."

Her hologram disappeared and the room went silent, Cardinal Sforza looked at the ceiling and blinked back tears, she had grown truly fond of Valentina. Leon collected the books and left the room stating that he had to return to the orphanage. Havel and Hugue both said they had work to do, and the Professor went back to his office to tinker around with an invention.

Abel looked to Cardinal Sforza, "Let me bring her back, Lady Caterina. She needs us, we're the only family she has now."

"She needs you Abel," said Caterina, she was looking right at him, "she disappeared shortly after we received news of your death. Abel, I think that she loves you."

Abel stared in disbelief at the Cardinal, "B-but she's a friend, I-I…"

"It's alright Abel it's only human. Now, if you think you can bring her back, then do so with all speed Abel."

Abel left for the area that the ship had last been as he thought, '_Why are your eyes so sad, Tina? Why did you leave?'

* * *

_

He kept Valentina's letter in his pocket as he went to the ARK, but as he landed in the docking bay he thought that he should read it. The letter could give him some insight as to why she had come up here. He pulled the envelope out of his pocket and as he opened it the smell of roses floated to him like a fragile memory. He reveled in the familiarity of the flowing handwriting and it felt as though she spoke to him from the page.

The letter said-

Abel,

If you are reading this then I am far away from all the pain and sorrow that life creates. Nothing can hurt me anymore and I think that it's time to let you know my deepest thoughts and feeling. I grew to think of the AX as my new family since mine has been gone for centuries and you will always be my dearest friend. But I have been hiding the fact that I love you for all this time and I prayed to God would see fit to grant me a reprieve from the torment of an unrequited love. I hope you know that I have been happy to be your friend even though you seemed oblivious to my feelings. So, I have only one request for you. Listen to your own heart and forgive yourself for your past, you are not as you were then.

Love,

Tina

(Sister Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici)

He placed the letter back in his pocket as he exited the ship into the ARK. He headed for the observation deck and looked down at Earth. It looked different from all those centuries ago when he had tried to use the ARK's laser on it as a child. The ARK was quiet, too quiet, the sound of a door opening behind him alerted him to the presence of an angel. He turned to face her and realized it wasn't an angel but Valentina; she had just cut her hair. She looked in shock as she stared at him, "Abel? Great I'm starting to hallucinate again."

"Valentina, come back to the Vatican with me. We miss you," he closed his eyes, "I miss you, Tina."

Tears fell down Valentina's face as she realized that this was no hallucination. Blinking back tears, she looked at the man whose death had nearly killed her, and her heart filled with a burning rage. With her emotions so raw, she lost control of her abilities and she changed into on hundred percent Crusnik form without thought. And with a speed that was to fast for Abel to track she was in front of him. She still looked more human than any of the Nightroad siblings, her now chest length blood auburn hair floated around her head as though it were in water, her huge black and purple wings hummed with electricity, her irises were like emerald and sapphire supernovas, her dainty fangs rested on her lower lip, and her skin glowed as though she had swallowed the moon. Abel took a step backwards, "Hello Tina."

"Hello Abel," she lifted him into the air, "I have been laboring under the delusion that you were dead, and now I find that you are alive. How dare you not let me know, I have gone through hell and back trying to attain enough strength to insure that Cain would never hurt another soul, and I find that you are _**alive**_. **I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR **_**FRIEND**_," she dropped him on his butt, "but it seems that I was wrong. A friend would have told me that they were safe."

Crimson liquid, which glowed with the brilliance of fire opals, flowed down her moon glow skin, "Good Bye Abel."

She changed back to human form and left the room, just before the door closed Abel heard a small voice, "Just leave me in peace."

He followed Valentina into the laboratory to find her crying, and the room was a wreck. She had thrown all of the lab equipment in various directions during various fits of despair. He touched her shoulder and she shrugged his hand off, "Leave me alone, Abel. It's better this way."

"Tina, you can't give up because you're in pain. You need to give the world a chance to show you a way out of hopelessness," said Abel gently.

"How can _**you**_ of all people say that, Abel? You can't even forgive yourself for Lilith's death and you didn't kill her. Cain was responsible for her demise but you blame yourself and _you_ are telling me to give the world a chance," she stood in front of him with a look of grim resolve as she stared into his eyes, "You and the AX were the only proof I had that the world wasn't peopled with Cains, Dietrichs, Issaks, or Damiens. But when Cain took you away from my world I lost all sense of joy or hope."

"Who is Damien?"

"The jerk I once called my boyfriend, the one who stuffed me into that coffin," said Valentina as rested her head on his chest, "I wish I had known you then. My life wouldn't have been a mess."

Abel wrapped his arms around her, "Come home Tina. We can look for Cain together, you, Ion Fortuna, and I. We'll get rid of him together."

"You're…(sniff)…working with the Earl of Memphis," asked Valentina.

"Yes, we've been-…" Valentina cut him off.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you but you could have let me know that you were safe," and she hugged him with enough force to knock Abel over, "I have been lost without you my friend."

"_Tina_…um-uh…I can see…uh…you have very nice assets," Abel's face turned pink as Valentina looked down to see that the shoulder of her dress had torn, when they had fallen to the floor, exposing her cleavage. She sat up with a sheepish grin and held the torn fabric up at her shoulder, "How embarrassing, let me change and we can go back to the Vatican."  
She walked out of the lab to get changed and returned several minutes later wearing a simple white sundress. The same dress that she had worn that day in Sevilla when Cain had attacked her but her eyes were filling with happiness as she walked up to Abel, "Let's go."

* * *

Several days after they returned to the Vatican, Abel went to the orphanage and found Valentina telling the children a story about how a young woman's piety saved her form the Devil. The children seemed to be enjoying the story and he noticed that a few of the younger children were cuddled up next to her. She closed the book and said, "Story time is over, now it's time to go outside and play." 

The children ran past Abel almost knocking him over and then he heard a laugh that made his heart jump. He looked up to find a sleepy girl in Valentina's arms, "You're tired little one, time for a nap."

Abel silently followed her as she carried the girl to her room for a nap. He stopped at the door and watched her cradle the girl as she hummed a hauntingly beautiful tune until the girl was asleep, then she put the girl to bed. She left the room and smiled at Abel as she closed the door, "Hello Abel."

"Hello Valentina," he noticed a flash in her eyes as he used her name, "Tina, I need to talk to you about something Leon gave me."

She smiled again, "Ok, lets go for a walk. I'll tell Leon that I'm leaving for awhile."

Abel followed her outside where she ran around to the side of the orphanage, "Leon, I'll be back later. Abel and I have things to discuss."

"Ok, see you later."

She ran back to Abel and taking his hand ran out the gate. They stopped at the park at Borghese villa and sat under a tree, "Alright Abel, what is this all about?"

He handed her the letter that Leon had given him, "Leon gave this to me on the day I returned to the Vatican. I appreciate the sentiment but I don't deserve your love."

She looked at the letter and sighed, she knew why he felt that he didn't deserve to be loved, and the reasons were always open to her and always had been. She gently folded the letter into his hand, "She never blamed you, Abel. Not for being angry with the humans, and not for her death. Don't you think that after nearly a thousand years that she would want you to forgive yourself?"

Valentina touched his cheek as she stood up, "Abel, just think on this for awhile. I have always, since we met, known of the darkness that resides in you and I gave you my love anyway. So, whether you believe that you are deserving of love or not, you will always have mine."

He watched her remove a chain from around her slender neck that held two rings, the rings from their mission in Sevilla. She removed Abel's ring and placed it in his hand with care, "You are my most beloved friend. Abel." Valentina left him sitting under the tree with her letter in one hand and his ring in the other. Her words rang in his mind as he watched her leave, _**'I have always, since we met, known of the darkness that resides in you and I gave you my love anyway. Don't you think that after nearly a thousand years that she would want you to forgive yourself?'**_

Abel closed his hand around the ring and placed both the letter and the ring in his pocket. He stood up and ran to catch up with Valentina, "Tina, you're right I should forgive myself but I can't."

"That's ok, I have enough forgiveness for everyone, she replied with an impish grin and then she stopped walking, "I have found that even though a person dwells in darkness they can have a heart of gold. While, someone who seems to be lit from within can be an absolute bastard. So, don't worry. I forgive you everything and I always will."

He stared into her hoarfrost emerald eyes and finally lost the battle with his will, "I love you too, my little Tina." She wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her toes and gently kissed him. The kiss grew as they stood in the park and then they heard behind them, "Remember what happens if you break the things I desire, Abel?"

Valentina looked away from Abel to see a carefree smile that hid insanity like a mask, "**_Cain._**"

* * *

"Valentina! Valentina Gabriella Francesca de Medici!" 

She sat bolt upright in bed, "What?"

"Get out of bed girl or you are going to miss your cousin's wedding," said a woman with red hair and a melodious Irish accent, "you're Sophia's maid of honor. Hurry up."

"I'll be down momentarily Mama," she wondered as she got dressed how much of that had been real. She ran into the dinning room, "Good morning Mama, Papa, Grandmama."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, this had happened when she was sixteen not _twenty-six_, and her Grandmother had died when she was seventeen. She hadn't seen her in nine years, well not a _corporeal her_ anyway.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a coffin, "Hello, can anyone here me?"

The lid opened a crack and sweet air rushed in with the sound of her ex-boyfriend's voice, "I love you Valentina but I refuse to share you with the world. So, I'll rid the world of your beauty and mourn you alone until the day you go to my master. I am truly sorry but you are the weapon the Order wanted me to collect. I never expected to fall in love with you, good bye my love."

"Dietrich let me out. Dietrich! Dietrich?"

She wondered who Damien was, '_Oh yeah. The pushy man that Dietrich rescued me from the night we first met._'

"Dietrich? Oh no," she said, "God, please rescue me from this cruel fate."

There was a flash of bluish-white light and she was floating fifteen feet above the floor of a throne room. She lost altitude and fell in Abel's arms, and Abel sat up in bed, "What was that all about? No more sugar before bed."

He had no idea this was just the beginning. Meanwhile, in the Imperial Throne Room of the New Human Empire there really was a girl floating fifteen feet off the ground and only her telekinetic abilities were keeping her in midair.

To be continued in The Reluctant Weapon – Part 2 (Reality)…

* * *

_Please review, thank you._


	2. Chapter 2: Reality

_Sorry about not publishing a chapter for almost two years. I have been busy. _

_This chapter has some overtones of the first chapter here and there but for the most part this chapter shows the beginning of Valentina's journey and lays down some ground work for her relationships with the Rosenkreudz and the many members of the AX, especially Abel and Cain._

"I assure you, My Lord, she is in our time. It just appears that the mechanism was unable to steer her where we wanted her to be," said Isaak Frenand von Kampfer as he began to play with a computer consol, "I am tracking the magnetic signature that the machine left on her…I see…I have found her, My Lord. She's in the New Human Empire; shall I send Dietrich to claim her or _Radu_ perhaps?"

"Leave her there for the moment, we'll collect her later. When we do, _**I**_ will collect her. The sight of Dietrich may make her hostile," said Cain with a gentle and rather carefree smile.

"Yes, My Lord."

Meanwhile in the Imperial Throne-room in Byzantium, a bright bluish white light erupted near the ceiling to reveal a young woman floating about fifteen feet from the marble floor. She was looking at the ceiling above her with grim determination when her curiosity got the better of her and she looked down to find the floor fifteen feet below her. She fainted at the sight of the floor so far beneath her and she began to fall towards the floor. But the Duke of Khartoum Lord Baibars caught her; he was the chief of the Yeniceri (the Palace Guard). He looked at the pretty faced young woman and knew by the smell of drying blood that she was injured. Lord Baibars looked up to the throne, "My Empress, what are we to do with this girl?"

A cultured voice came from the obscured throne, "Take her to one of the private chambers reserved for dignitaries. I will have someone look after her."

"Yes, My Empress," said Baibars and he left with the injured woman. Behind a large veil, that seemed to cover the entire throne, was a little girl of about twelve in appearance who had been alive for the past nine hundred years. She smiled to herself, "I need to talk to that girl. I feel that she will be playing a major part in the future."

"Yes, Empress, Once she is well, shall we mover her to Moldova," asked a tall slender woman with long blonde hair.

"Yes, Mirka, I think that will be an excellent idea," said the Empress to the Duchess of Moldova.

One month later the young woman is being moved to Moldova, where she was to be placed in the care of Mirka Fortuna the Duchess of Moldova, when a man appears in the middle of the road. The leader of her armed escort approaches to talk to him as the young woman watches from the window of the transport. Her eyes grow wide with fear when she sees an invisible force, from the man's hand; make a hole in the leader of her guard's chest. The rest of her armed guard run to fight the assailant and each in turn is taken down with a hole in their chest leaving her alone with the smiling man. The man continues to smile his serene smile as he approached. She noticed his golden blonde hair, it reminded her of a dream she had once or was it a nightmare, it really didn't matter. She opened door on the far side of the vehicle and tried to make a brake toward the woods when the other door opened. The man grabbed her arm to pull her out; she ripped one of the drapes trying to get out of his grasp, and drew her close to his chest. He buried his face in her hair to breath her in, "mm…you smell delectable, Valentina."

'_No…not that voice…the voice from my nightmares,' _she stepped on the man's instep, "Let me go."

"Oh, I can't do _**that**_," he rubbed his cheek on top of her head, "you belong to me."

"No," Valentina whispered in fear as she closed her eyes like a child trying to hide from the monster. His name was surprisingly fresh in her mind, "Cain." Cain smiled even more as he flew off into the night with her. Valentina knew from Dietrich what the Rosenkreudz Orden wanted from her and it scared her, they wanted to turn her into an apocalyptic weapon. She felt something soft like feathers brush her fingers and she opened her eyes to see, '_white angel wings?' _She stretched her fingers out and caressed a single feather on Cain's wing, it seemed to calm her for a reason she couldn't fathom almost like a long forgotten dream. When Cain touched down they were in an airship and a pair of men's hands took her from him, "I will take her to the laboratory to prepare her for the procedure at once, My Lord."

The man lead her into a large room with a medic's table in the center of it and it was the table he was leading her to when a voice in her head began to tell her to escape. Valentina's fist flew toward the man's face when suddenly she couldn't move and Dietrich stepped through the door, "Hello Valentina, My love."

"Let…me…go, Dietrich," she said through gritted teeth as he pulled her strings. He smiled at her they way he used to when they were together and her heart began to break again like it had the night he put her in the coffin to await the Orden, "All in good time, my love. I told you that you would go to my master one day. That day is _today_."

Dietrich released her but, only after he had made her get onto the medic's table and the other man had secured straps, then he left the room. She glared at the tall thin man with the coldly handsome face and long straight black hair as he set out the tools needed for the transfusion, and said, "Let me go."

"My master would not like that after all that has been done to get you this far."

"What are you talking about?"

"I pulled you out of your time after sending Dietrich to collect you," he smiled at the look of bewilderment on her face, "you are going to be infused with the Crusnik nanomachines in Master Cain's blood. We are going to make you Crusnik, My Lady…a fitting bride for My Master. The Orden's Star of Annihilation."

"Isaak, don't scare my pretty little Valentina," said Cain's calm voice from the door. Isaak bowed to Cain, "My apologies, My Lord." Cain walked to Valentina and leaned over her as he caressed her jaw line, "Are we ready?"

She couldn't think with him touching her, almost like a snake fascinating a bird, he was the snake and she was the bird. Valentina didn't realize that he was affecting her that much until she felt the needle and a rush of warmth entered her veins. The warmth turned into searing white heat that electrified her blood as it coursed through her body at an accelerated rate, her heart felt as though it would burst. In the end she passed out from the pain, the last thing she had seen was Cain's tranquil smile.

Lord Bibars knelt before the Imperial throne, "My Empress, Valentina di Medici did not make it to the Moldova estate. The guard contingency sent to protect her was slaughtered and the transport showed signs of a struggle."

"Do you have any idea where she was taken," asked the Empress, an undertone of concern wove through her voice. "No Empress. However," he pulled something from a pocket, "these were found only a few feet from the open door of the transport." He handed a piece of wrapped up cloth to the Empress, unfolding it she found large white feathers. She closed her eyes and wondered, _'Cain, what do you want with Valentina? And can she be saved before you succeed in your plans?'_

Cain watched Valentina sleep with every note of true enjoyment. As he gazed down at her he wondered how anyone could have been born with eyes like frosted emeralds, hair of such a richly dark auburn that it was the color of thick blood, and skin like the moon had given birth to a human. But the thing that puzzled him the most about her appearance was how anyone could have lips that begged to be kissed and were the color of rubies. There was something about her that drew him in in spite of himself. Like she was a siren calling him into the depths of her sea. Cain lay down beside her and ran a hand along her, his inner sea quieted with each touch of her skin or stroke of her hair.

The year floated by for Valentina as though her mind was in a fog. There was something not quite right with her surroundings. Dietrich was unnervingly respectful to her now that she was part of the Orden. Isaak von Kampfer treated her like she was a pet project, forcing her to hone her martial and magick skills to a flawless art. However, he had his moments of great annoyance for her especially when he treated her like she had done something cute. At those times she would throw him through walls using her telekinetic blast; He would just smile at her with a look bordering on lust, it really unnerved her when he looked at her like that. Her enthrallment with Cain grows everyday in spite of the voice in her head that says she is a prisoner and should escape. He gives the impression that he would like he would love to see Valentina minus her clothes and even her skin but, it doesn't bother her the way it should which is a mystery to her. The attention that Cain lavishes her on makes Helga von Vogelweide, an agent known as the Ice Witch who is in love with Cain, incandescent with jealousy. However, Helga would not dare to try to harm Valentina because she fears what Cain would do. But eventually something will give because everyone has their breaking point, even Helga.

One year after Cain had abducted her, Isaak had her follow a priest around, he said, "It is an exercise." But why this one? He was goofy and, if she had still been in the twenty- first century, she would have called him _nerdy_. The priest was tall and gangly with long white blonde hair that was almost silver at times, and he wore a pair of round gold-framed spectacles that hid his brilliantly blue eyes. There was something about him that bothered her but she couldn't quiet put her finger on what it was. Then she saw him smile at a girl one time and she knew exactly what was bothering her, she knew him. Well to be exact she knew _of_ him, she used to have dreams about him starting when she was sixteen. He was Cain's twin she had dreamed about both of them but the golden blonde's carefree smile had always bothered her and at the age of eighteen she found out why his smile disturbed her so. She had woken up in a cold sweat screaming after she had watched him kill a woman that this priest cared for. The strange thing was how real the dreams had seemed like she had been there. Stranger still was how that sense of uneasiness about Cain had faded. Now, she was following another man quiet literally out of her dreams and nightmares. With this bit of trivial knowledge plaguing her mind, she found herself fascinated with this priest, strangely so sense it was almost identical to her fascination with Cain, almost. Her body seemed to react to the priest's voice in a way that even Cain's touch couldn't affect her. So, she kept close to him like a shadow that he never even suspected, because he never looked at the redhead in the skintight black leather jump suit who always had her nose in a book.

One day she over heard a conversation he had over a communicator, "Father Alexander Scott was the priest at the…"

"Our sources said that he's still at the church and has turned it into a nest of sorts, Father Abel."

"Then I'll check out the church first, thank you Sister Kate."

"You're welcome Father Abel, be careful. Kate out."

The priest walked off when Valentina had been buying some anise-flavored sweets but she had heard the entire conversation and knew exactly where he was going. She headed for the church.

Valentina sat in the church's rafters cleaning her gun and mentally cursing the priest. He hadn't shown up and the sun was already setting. Meanwhile, _his_ target had just finished tying a nun to the church's altar and was preparing to have her for dinner. The sick bastard was saying grace over her like she was a bowl of soup, now she had to drink vampire's blood every once and a while in order to keep the nanomachines from turning on her but, vampires at least had a fighting chance they didn't scream and beg for their life from beginning to finish. The vampiric priest was cutting off the nun's habit with a silver knife that would have once been used to cut bread for the church's worshippers. It was more than Valentina could take and she let her gaze take in the entire church as she thought, '_Where are you Father? This isn't my job. Cain wouldn't be happy if I help this nun.'_

She quietly slid a magazine clip into her gun, slid a bullet into the chamber, and aimed at the vampiric priest Father Alexander Scott's head. She slowly let out her breath as she allowed her body to go impossibly still, and was about to pull the trigger when a man's voice could be heard coming out of the shadows, "Ite missa est. This Mass is over, Father Scott."

Valentina took her finger off the trigger and aimed the gun at the ceiling as she used her telepathic abilities to find the priest in a dark corner.

"Londonium Priest Father Alexander Scott…In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I am placing you under arrest for seven counts of murder and blood extortion," said the priest in the shadows. Valentina watched from the rafters as the priest emerged from the shadows and noticed how changed he was. He was taller with darker skin, red glowing eyes, gaunter facial features, and his white blonde hair floated above him.

'_What….that's a Crusnik,_' thought a confused Valentina, who after a year still didn't know that there were other Crusnik apart from Cain and herself. She watched in fascinated horror as Father Scott shrieked in dread, "You're Caterina's Hound! AX Agent Crusnik-!"

The crusnik's scythe swung through the night air cutting off the vampire's screams. The Crusnik turned back into the goofy priest she had been tracking and released the nun from the altar. Then he started to walk towards the church's double doors. She waited for him to pass her and then she jumped from the rafters landing behind him in a kneeling position looking at him through her blood auburn hair as she stood up, "It took you long enough, priest. Two more seconds and Father Fang Face would have had silver nitrate in his veins via a bullet in his brain. No offense meant but your timing sucks."

The priest turned around to find a gun leveled at him by a pretty young woman in a skintight jump suit with strands of blood auburn hair in her face, "That is close enough priest, any closer and I'll kick you in the Fruit."

"The _what_?"

Valentina rolled her frosted emerald green eyes in annoyance, "Your sock drawer, joystick, erect-a-set, your groin…pick_** one**_."

The priest turned pink with embarrassment, "B-but you have a gun, you could just shoot me."

"Shooting a priest would be stupid and highly detrimental to my job, not to mention my life," said Valentina as she brushed her long hair out of her face and put the gun away. He noticed that she wasn't _just_ pretty; she was absolutely angelic in her beauty. Well, that was if you liked your angels to emanate sensuality with every movement, with a touch of purity.

"And what is your job, that it brings you here," asked the priest as he noticed how her waist gently sloped to meet her hips and closed his eyes as he thought, '_Brilliant Abel, just brilliant. Stop staring at her body._'

Valentina's kissable ruby lips curved into a playful smile, "My job is classified. So, let's just say that for now I am to observe only."

She closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye and draped her arms around his neck, "So, tell me. Who are you?"

"…um-uh…I'm Father Abel Nightroad - wandering priest at your _service,_" the last was spoken in a squeak. Valentina snuggled closer to the blushing priest and in a sultry purr said, "…mmm…_I just bet_ _you_ _are_. I am Valentina, good bye Abel."

She kissed him passionately, backed away, and bowed. Then Valentina sauntered passed a shocked Abel like a cat, all slender muscled grace.

Valentina sat back in her chair and rested her feet on the back of another chair in front of her as she closed her eyes, "Ah, I can get some rest before this thing reaches Berlin."

Her hopes for rest were dashed as the ship's observation lounge filled with passengers. She sunk deeper into the chair and made it perfectly clear with a glare that there would be trouble for anyone who tried to take the chair she was using as a footrest. She tried to rest as best she could when a child tripped on his shoelaces and fell down. The little boy started to cry as his balloon floated to the ceiling.

She knelt next to the small boy, "Are you hurt?"

The boy nodded as he rubbed his knees, she looked at his knees and noted that the skin was reddened but not broken, "They're just a little rug burned. Now, lets get your shoes tied and then I'll retrieve your balloon, ok?"

He nodded and let her tie his shoes. She gave him a little smile as she stood, she used a small telekinetic pull to bring the balloon a little lower, and using the chair as a springboard she jumped up and grabbed the balloon. Valentina handed the balloon to the boy sending him off to play, and sat back down with her feet propped up. She closed her eyes and drifted into dreamland.

She was walking through Time Square in New York. A handsome man with shoulder length black hair started to talk to her, he said all the right lines, and she wanted to say yes to a drink with him. But something in his eyes told her to refuse and go home.

"I'm sorry but I have to go," she said and started to walk off.

The man put a hand on her shoulder, "Please Miss, just one drink."

"I don't even know you, sir."

He removed his hand from her shoulder and held out his hand with a coaxing smile, "My name is Damien Viglione and it is a pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady."

She gave him a pleasant smile and shook his hand, "Valentina di Medici, it's nice to meet you Damien, but I really _do_ have to go."

"Just one drink, that's all I ask."

"The lady said she has to go. So, let her go and accept defeat," said a young man with light brown hair, which went just past his jaw line, who was standing behind Valentina. The man called Damien tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her close, "Who _is_ this man?"

"I don't know but, I agree with him," she said.

A hand came around and grabbed Damien's windpipe, "I am Dietrich von Lohengrin and I will only let go when you let go of this beautiful lady."

Damien let go of her and ran down the street. She lost her balance and started to fall and the world went black as her head hit the ground.

"Hello Miss, how are you feeling," said Dietrich as Valentina opened her eyes. She looked around to find that she was in a hospital room and the young man who had rescued her was sitting next to her bed.

"Why did you stay with me," she said in a weak voice.

"I couldn't leave you alone after your ordeal with that brute," he said as he held her hand, and the rest was history. She spent the next six months with Dietrich in blind bliss until she found an incriminating paper. She confronted him about what she had read on the document, "What is the Order of Rosenkreuz?"

"Just a group trying to change the world," said Dietrich nonchalantly.

"This is an itinerary for the collection of a weapon, Dietrich. Just _how _do they plan to change the world?"

"New World Order, how else?"She threw the paper at him, picked up her bag, and started to leave the apartment. She turned to look at him for a moment, "I am leaving. I love you Dietrich, but this is too much for me to handle."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm sorry too, but I'm still leaving."

"Most of all I am sorry that it has come to this," he made a small gesture and she couldn't move.

"aagghh…what…aagghh…Dietrich…" she fell to the ground hitting her head on the side table by the door on the way down. Valentina woke up to find that she was in a dark box lined with satin, she banged on the lid, "Hello, can anyone hear me?"

The lid opened a crack and then she heard Dietrich's voice, "I love you Valentina but I refuse to share you with world. So, I'll rid the world of your beauty and mourn you alone until the day you go to my master. I am truly sorry but you are the weapon the Orden wanted me to collect. I never expected to fall in love with you, good bye my love."

"Dietrich, let me out, Dietrich…Dietrich?" The lid to the coffin closed, "_Dietrich_? Oh no. God, save me from this cruel fate."

Valentina's eyes shot open at the same time her feet hit the ground. She got up and went to her room, returning to the observation lounge with her black leather backpack. The pack had knife sheaths on the straps that held two silver knives and a holster in the back near the bottom that held a Jericho M13 and extra ammo. She pulled out a book and began to read trying not to think about her dream; after all she still had to deal with Dietrich as a member of the Order.

Two hours later Valentina arrived back at the Orden's Berlin house. "Oh, look who finally decided to return;" said Helga with distain, "what's wrong did you loose your quarry?"

"Still jealous as always, Helga," asked Valentina as she sat on a finely upholstered sofa of oak and green velvet, "Cain still ignoring your advances."

Helga stood up, "Go to Hell di Medici," she pulled out a gun and shot Valentina in the shoulder. Valentina's eyes filled with rage, "She shot _**me**_…THE LITTLE INGRATE SHOT ME."

She screamed her anger at Helga, and suddenly the room was filled with a light similar to moonlight. The room had become a little smaller in Valentina's eyes. Then a white bow of crystallized blood appeared in her hands and it glowed like it was on fire. She looked over her shoulder to find a pair of night black-feathered wings with violent purple edging and a whirlwind of electrical power surged around her. Helga backed up as Valentina's power surged through the room but mostly she backed up because Cain had arrived and was suddenly at Valentina's side. Helga ran from the room in fear of what Cain would do to her. He placed a calming hand on Valentina's good shoulder and she changed back into a human form. She looked at the wounded shoulder and thought, _'I need to get out before I end up dead.'_

A few months later, a young woman showed up at the gates of the Vatican. A black veil obscured her features but she was wearing a long black dress that seemed to show her figure to its advantage. The dress's sleeves were long and slender belling out at the wrist to show off the elegance of her hands, the bodice was fitted with a low neckline that showed off just enough of her breasts to be provocative while still managing to be modest. And the skirt slopped gracefully to the hip from the bodice and draped off the hip to her ankles with a slit running from the thigh down to the hem, and she was wearing a pair of black knee high lace up stiletto-heeled boots. The only color seemed to be the long blood auburn braid draped over one shoulder. The guards watched her glide towards them, "Hello gentlemen, I have an appointment with Cardinal Sforza."

"I need your identification and then I will have to verify your appointment with the Ministry of Holy Affairs," said one of the guards as he tried to ignore the exquisite curves of her body. There was a slight giggle from behind the veil, she reached two slender fingers into the front of her bodice, and she pulled out her identification card, "Of course sir, here you are. I am sorry but that was the safest place for it."

The guard turned pink as he walked off to verify her appointment. She turned to one of the other guards, "While I am waiting for him to return with my card, would you be so kind as to show me somewhere to sit? These boots may be a fashion forward but they can be murder on the ankles."

"_Of __course_," said the guard in a high-pitched squeak, he was young and obviously new to the position, "right this way, but I'll have to stay with you, so that you won't be left unsupervised."

Her tone was warm and polite, "Perfectly understandable, thank you."

He led her into the guardroom where Brother Petro was talking about preventative security measures in case the Pope was attacked. The young guard escorted her to a chair and began to turn pink, "Miss. I don't want to be rude but…um…why did you say that your bodice was the safest place for your identification card?"

"I had a pocket sewn into the lining of the bodice for my card. That way I would always have my identity," said the veiled woman nonchalantly. But Brother Petro heard her and turned to look at her, "It would also be an ideal hiding place for a knife."

"I assure you sir that unless the handle of the knife folded it wouldn't fit. And even then it would show," said the young woman who, despite being tiny in comparison to the imposing knight, was standing up to him. He walked over to her and looked at the guard beside her, "Tell your superior where the lady is, I'll stay with her."

As the young man left Petro turned back to the veiled lady, "I apologize but in a dress such as _yours _there are many hiding places for weapons. I cannot let you go anywhere else in the Vatican grounds until I have searched you."

The young woman just shrugged, and Petro lifted her veil to find an angelic looking woman with skin as pale as the moon, frosted emerald eyes, and ruby lips that were a little too tempting for him. He began to blush a bit as he patted her down and he went down to one knee as he continued to frisk her. She looked up to find the guard with her identification card and a priest with long dark brown hair and a goatee. The lady smiled at them, "I will be with you shortly gentlemen, after the good brother here has finished feeling up on me."

It was a mercy that Petro was on one knee in front of her because he couldn't see who was behind him and they couldn't see how much the color of his face matched the red of his tunic. Petro looked up to see a hint of mischief dance in the emerald of her eyes. She smiled at him, "Am I safe to go, good sir? Are you satisfied now that you know I am harmless?"

"I don't know about harmless, but you're not carrying any weapons."

She leaned forward to be eye to eye with him and whispered, "Nope no weapons, just lacy underwear."

"Lady Valentina di Medici, I am Father Vaclav Havel of the Ministry of Holy Affairs. I will be in charge of your safety while you are in the Vatican," said the dark haired priest with a gentle smile and a bow. Petro's eyes grew wide at the mention of the angelic redhead's name; he just knew that Cardinal di Medici would have a conniption about one of his mother's relatives being frisked.

Valentina was still face to face with Brother Petro and saw his anxiety, "Don't worry I won't tell Francesco, if you don't," she smiled seductively, "You have very strong hands. I must admit that it was an interesting experience, good bye sir."

Petro stayed on one knee as she walked past him to Father Havel, and then she put the veil back in place. She turned to the guard at Havel's side, "May I have my identification card back please?"

The guard wordlessly handed her the card as he stared at the reddening ears of Brother Petro in disbelief that a few well-placed comments embarrassed him. Valentina took Havel's arm, "Shall we go, Father Havel?"

Cardinal Sforza looked up from her paperwork as Havel opened the door to her office. He was escorting a young woman in a black dress and veil, "Your Eminence, may I present Lady Valentina di Medici."

"Good Afternoon, my lady," said the Cardinal and the veiled woman gave her a graceful curtsy, "Your Eminence."

Havel quietly left the room and went to the Professor's office with a deadpan expression.

The Professor looked up from an invention to see Havel close the door and start laughing, "What is _so_ amusing Vaclav?"

Covering his eyes with one hand, Havel sat in front of the Professor's desk, still laughing, "I saw a young woman, who is presently speaking with Cardinal Sforza, embarrass a member of the Inquisitorial Department…William, she made him blush so hard that his ears matched the red of his tunic."

The Professor, also known as Father William Walter Wordsworth, smiled as he lit his pipe, "Who is this young lady?"

"Her name is Valentina de Medici; she came to discuss some business with Cardinal Sforza. William, you need to meet her, she is absolutely charming."

"Who's charming," Sister Noelle asked as she glided into the room. Abel followed her in, "Professor, I was wondering if you had a mo-oh, you're busy."

"Come in Father Abel, this seems to have become the common room," the Professor turned back to Havel, "We should invite Lady di Medici for tea before she leaves."

Havel smiled, "I'll go check on the proceedings of her meeting with her Eminence and invite her after her business with the Cardinal has been concluded."

He left the room to conduct his inquiries and Abel turned to the Professor with a smile, "I'm staying for tea."

"Yes, I thought you might," he turned to Noelle, "and Noelle, are you going to join our little tea party?"

She sat on the corner of his desk, "Yes, meeting anyone that can charm Havel is worth the risk of having to fight Abel over the sugar bowl."

"What do you mean, Noelle," said Abel with a look of wounded innocence.

Havel returned half an hour later with Valentina on his arm, "So, you're joining the AX."

"Yes," she said in a melodic voice that caused Abel to turn to her. The veil was concealing her face, so, Abel was left to wonder if her voice was her charm. Then she removed the veil, to reveal a lovely woman in her mid to late twenties, and Abel's jaw dropped in shock, '_What is __she__ doing here?'_

She greeted the Professor and Noelle warmly but her expression changed to one of self-conscious embarrassment as she was introduced to Abel. Her cheeks turned a light pink, which seemed to make her even lovelier, "Is there something wrong, Father? Doest my dress have a tear in it, or…"

She began to look at the floor as she traced an invisible line, back and forth, with the toe of one booted foot. Abel closed his mouth and looked pleadingly at Noelle who gave him a, _**you did it you fix it**_, look. Placing a hand nervously behind his head, Abel smiled, "Sorry for staring, but you look like someone I met in Londonium."

"Oh," she gave him a shy smile, "I'm sure she's much prettier than I am. I've always been told that I'm plain."

She knew she was laying it on thick but it had been the truth about being told she was plain. Her father, mother and grandmother had been the only family members to term her pretty, everyone else called her plain or a freak. Abel smiled at her, "Anyone to call you plain is just jealous of the rarity of your beauty. You are positively angelic." Valentina's cheeks turned as red as her hair at that comment, "Th-thank you, Father Nightroad."

Noelle stepped next to her and gave Abel a mock scowl and turned to Valentina with a friendly smile, "How do you take your tea?"

Relieved to be rescued from an awkward moment, Valentina turned her attention to the tea, "Milk with a little honey please."

"So, have you met Cardinal di Medici," asked the Professor conversationally.

Valentina quietly stirred her tea and gently placed the spoon on the side of her saucer, "Never."

Father Havel, "She's not really from around here, William. The Rosenkreuz had abducted her because of her abilities."

Father William smiled, "So, what would they want such a lovely lady for?"

"To destroy the world," Valentina looked at her hands, "and…_other things_. Mostly they wanted me because I have what they called Methuselah-type powers such as- pyrokinesis, telekinetic blasts that could reduce an entire city to dust, mind reading, mental manipulation abilities that could make any person be my puppet, and I can control the weather. Not to mention that I am a fighter highly skilled in martial arts, marksmanship, swords, and other blades," she changed the subject, "So, Father William I understand that you are an inventor. I would like very much to see some of your inventions one of these days."

A female voice came from behind her, "You may wish to rethink that request. Most of his inventions explode."

"Sister Kate, whatever do you mean? My inventions work just fine," said the Professor. Abel noticed the look of relief on Valentina's face when William and Kate began to bicker, and leaned over to her, "No one here will ridicule you for your gifts. You're safe here."

"Oh," she looked around the room from the holographic nun to the stately priest then to the others in the room, and set her teacup down. "Everyone here is special in their own way," said Abel in a tone that, although reassuring, didn't help to assuage Valentina's underlying anxiety. "I guess Her Eminence likes to collect misfits," she said as she stood up and left the room, "Excuse me."

Valentina stood in the hallway staring out a window, "What am I doing here? How will I get him out of my head? He was all I knew for a year. I feared him when he was just a dream but, he was my salvation for that page in my life. Now that I have left the Orden behind will he come after me?"

A sense of dread filled her and a small part of her that was still fascinated, like a bird to a snake, made her mouth turn up in a twisted smile of rapture. She began to shiver with true horror as she whispered, "You broke me Cain. How do I fix myself?"

"An excellent question," she looked up to see Abel's smiling face five feet from her, "however, if you were hoping for an answer then I can't help you."

Her expression went from horrified to down right panicked, like a cornered animal, as she thought, '_How did he manage to get this close without making a sound._'

Abel's smile faltered as he noticed her expression, "Miss. Valentina, What is wrong?"

"I'm all alone in the world, no one to love; no one waits for my return. I'm unwanted, and despised. The only people to show any interest in me finally unnerved me enough for me to run away," she said as she clinched her hands into fists, "and I just realized that they could follow me. I know that I have deceived myself into believing that the Contra Mundi will leave me alone. Even if he never finds me he will always be with me; In my blood, my mind, and distressingly he will always be in my heart and soul." She was staring at the floor as stinging hot tears fell from her eyes, "Never mind Father Nightroad, it's not important. Would you excuse me?"

Valentina turned before Abel could say anything and walked off quickly as she blinked the tears away.

"I can't let you leave in distress," said Abel as he fell into step with her, "and you are not _alone_. You have a friend in me if you want."

She stopped dead in her tracks as the image of a smiling woman with red hair entered her thoughts and she whispered, "Like you had a friend in Lilith."

"What did you say," asked Abel, he gave her an alarmed look. She shook her head, "It's nothing, my mind drifted off for awhile…funny though…I haven't thought of that name in over a thousand years. Not even with Cain fresh in my mind for over a year."

Abel looked bewildered, "Did you say over a thousand years ago?"

Valentina smiled, "I was wondering if you would register that information. Yes, I was born in 1981in Paris."

"Cain," Abel's face hardened with suppressed anger.

"The Rosenkreuz pulled me out of time. I couldn't take it anymore one of them treated me like a doll, while their leader," said Valentina as she tried to ignore Abel's mention of Cain's name and failed giving an involuntary shudder, "never mind…lets just say that I finally woke up from a twisted dream and escaped."

Valentina looked out the door of the AX building when they reached it, _**sunset**_, her knees collapsed causing her legs to go out from under her. She curled into a ball clutching her head in her hands as tears streamed down her face. A small barely audible whisper escaped her lips, "no."

Isaak von Kampfer was rather impressed with the affect that Cain's blood had had on Valentina…especially how Cain could control her to an extent if she defied him. There had been a few times he had found her at Cain's feet curled into a ball with her head cradled in her hands as she cried. Now, he watched Cain's normally serine smile get just a little wider, "Well that's interesting. Not that it matters."

"Have you found the Star of Annihilation, My Lord?"

"I have and she's fighting me…that's right Valentina keep fighting me…where are you my little star of the emerald-hoarfrost eyes. You can't hide your location forever. Just like you can't hide the fact that my brother stands beside you," Cain's eyes were laughing with madness, "Abel."

Valentina's head stopped throbbing as Cain released her. The first thing she could hear once the ringing stopped in her ears was, "What did you do, Abel? Tell her a bad joke?" She opened her eyes to see Abel kneeling by her with a look of concern and standing behind him was a tall darkly handsome man in priest's robes. He would have been better suited as a pirate or even on a romance novel cover. It was obvious that Abel was trying to ignore him, "Are you alright, Miss. Valentina?"

"Yes thank you," she sat up very slowly, she could feel every muscle in her body and they were all stiff like she had run a marathon while carrying Abel in her arms and Cain on her back. She smiled at the mental image as she got to her feet. She looked at the unfamiliar priest and held out a hand, "I'm Valentina Gabriella Francesca di Medici, new to the AX. It is nice to meet you, and you are?"

The priest took her hand and kissed it as he watched her face with heat in his eyes, "Father Leon Garsia de Asturias and you are far too beautiful to hide behind an AX codename."

"Bite me," her eyes grew wide as the words escaped from her mouth and then she covered her face with her hands to hide the embarrassment, "I am so sorry."

Abel was turning pink but, his face turned a deep fuchsia color when Leon responded to the cultural slip up. With a great big lascivious grin on his face, Leon said, "If you insist," and leaned over Valentina wiggling his eye brows at her. She let out an eepp, jumped behind Abel and began to push him forward, "Back back, I have an Abel and I'm not afraid to use him." Leon stopped to look at the petite woman pushing Abel at him and doubled over laughing, "You win, Cutie." Valentina stepped out from behind Abel and walked up to Leon. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and one leg slightly to the side as she tapped her foot, "Cutie? What…you think I'm a-" Leon swept her up into his arms and swung her from side to side, "Oh she is so CUTE." He gave her and Abel a mischievous grin and walked off with Valentina in still in his arms, "Good bye, Father Four-eyes."

"Leon, wait where are you going with her," said Abel as he ran after them.

"She new to the AX, right?"

"Yes and your point?"

"My point is that she needs a uniform."

"Excuse me," said Valentina as she stared at Leon's chest. The two men looked down at the dainty woman, "you can put me down, now. I am perfectly capable of walking on my own, thank you."

"But of course," Leon gave her a smile that touched places it should not have been able to touch, "however, I don't intend to let you go just yet."

"Oh," she blushed at Leon's smile as she unconsciously played with a strand of his hair. Valentina looked away from Leon's chest to Abel and felt a pang of something that had been missing from her life for the past year, she felt safe. She was amazed that she truly felt safe in the arms of the large priest holding her or in the company of the nerdy, yet no less attractive, priest before her who looked so much like the man who called to her blood.

An hour later Abel and Leon were waiting outside of the uniform storeroom as they listened to the commotion coming from within. They could hear Valentina saying, "All of the Nuns wear this… (sigh)…Sister Angelina, there has to be something else."

"Please Sister Valentina, be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable. I am an AX agent and that means I could be in life or death situations that my life may depend on how fast I can run, in three inch heels no less. If I have to run in this dress in three inch heels, I could get caught up on the hem and fall to my death or end up with a twisted ankle if I am lucky."

The sound of a box being opened floated into the hall, "What do we have here…yes, this could work quite nicely. I think I just found a dress I can move around in without tripping on it. hmm…I'd still look good too."

"I guess you could have that style. Sister Noelle is the only one I know who wears that style of dress, although her dresses have a collar. This dress is rather revealing, I mean the neckline is low cut and that slits on the side," Sister Angelina said in a guarded tone, "Here is a couple in your size and the dressing room is in that corner over there."

"Thank you, Sister Angelina."

"You are quit welcome…um…Sister?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful of Father Asturias, he can be…well, he can be a bit of an overbearing flirt."

"Thank you, Sister. But I think I have already come to that conclusion and I don't mind that much," Valentina began to laugh, "It's a nice change from the incessant intensity of my life so far."

About ten minutes later, Valentina walked in to the hallway wearing a slim figure hugging dress with a neckline just low enough to be provocative yet still be modest. The slits on each side of the dress ran from thigh down to the hemline and became noticeable when she walked to the two priests waiting for her. Turning around slowly she asked, "So, what do you guys think?"

She looked at Abel, whose face had turned two shades of pink and his mouth had dropped open, and she pouted, "Is it really that bad?"

"umm," Abel gulped as she took the five little steps it would take for her to be directly in front of him. And with a slender finger she reached up and closed his mouth, "You really should stop gaping at me, something could fly in." Abel gulped again as Valentina ran her finger up his jaw line and tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear. Meanwhile, Leon had been grinning at her like a kid in a candy shop. The intensity of his stare caused heat to wash over her and she looked away to hide the blush in her cheeks.

"I am going to the dorms to put my clothes away. Then I think I will go shopping for _other clothing_. I didn't make any vows after all," said Valentina as she walked toward the Nun's dorms, "I can afford it."

Abel and Leon watched her retreating silhouette. Leon gave Abel a devious smile, "Makes you wish you could do things your vows say you shouldn't, doesn't she?"

Then Leon ran off after Valentina leaving Abel standing alone in the hallway. With a sigh he watched Leon wrap an arm around Valentina's shoulders and thought, _'He never gives up, does he? Kate's right, you just can't take your eyes off him for one moment. Valentina should be careful around Leon, any woman within nine feet of him is in risk of getting pregnant.'_

Two weeks later Leon and Valentina found themselves in Cardinal Sforza's office. Her Eminence was looking over some papers. "I want the two of you to go retrieve Sword Dancer, from the Four Cities Territory, before he does something regretful," she handed a picture of Father Hugue de Watteau to Valentina, "I suggest you start in looking in Antwerp."

"Of course Your Eminence," said Valentina without looking at the picture of the wayward priest. Caterina looked from Leon to Valentina and wondered if she was doing the right thing. In any case, she was sending the AX's newest member, codename Seraphim, to Antwerp alone with the 'Dandelion' on her first assignment. "The Vatican has no political power in the Four Cities Territory, so, it would be best for the two of you to be unobtrusive," said the Cardinal looking directly at Leon, "especially you, Father Asturias."

"Perhaps dressing in civilian clothes would be appropriate," suggested Valentina, "I could provide the clothes. I mean, that since my bank account has been collecting interest for over a thousand years, so I have more than enough to cover the expenses."

Caterina just nodded at Valentina and turned her attention to Leon, "If you behave yourself during this mission, I will reduce your prison time by thirty years, and let you finish your sentence out at the Villa."

Leon grabbed Valentina's hand and began walking out of the room, "Come on, Cutie. Let's go find Hugue." "I will send you a report as soon as possible, Your Eminence," said Valentina as she stumbled out the door. Caterina allowed herself to smile; sometimes you just needed the right incentive with the 'Dandelion'.

"Leon, slow down," said Valentina as she fought to keep on her feet, "you are practically dragging me off my feet."

Leon stopped walking, "Sorry."

"Not that it matters to me but, what was the Cardinal talking about? Prison time? The Villa?"

"The Villa is the Vatican run orphanage."

"And your daughter is being treated at the children's hospital tied to the orphanage," Leon gave her a questioning look, "I can read minds like they are open books."

"She gets my prison sentence reduced every time I do an assignment."

"I got that impression already. I meant, why are you in prison?"

"I killed some people after the Moroccan War of Independence," Leon let go of Valentina's hand and walked off. She ran after him, "Who?"

"What?"

"Who did you kill?"

He stopped and turned on her, "What does it matter? I killed them, I can't pretend that I didn't, ok?"

"I just need to hear it from your lips," she shook her head, "never mind, you're right, it really doesn't matter. "Well, I need to go get every thing together before we leave. I'll meet you back here." Valentina walked off without so much as a second glance back at him, "It's none of my business if you killed thirty priests…hell, it's none of my business that you killed you wife. I already know what you were in prison for, I know who you had killed, and even I know why but, hearing it from you lips makes me feel less like a freak."

Leon let out an aggravated growl and caught up with her, "Damn it to hell and back. This assignment is going to be a pain if we aren't getting along."

"So, what do you suggest," said Valentina, who's tone wasn't angry just self-deprecating. He wrapped an arm around her waist, hoisted her over his shoulder, and walked out of the Vatican's main gates. She banged her fists on his back as she laughed nervously, "Leon put me down. This isn't dignified at all."

"So?"

"So, you are carrying me like you are stealing me and…oh look there's Father Havel…Hello Father," she waved to Father Vaclav Havel, who gave her a warm smile then looked quizzically at Leon and shook his head at the sight of the giant priest carrying the petite nun over one shoulder.

Several hours later, after Valentina had gotten out of Leon's grasp, managed to clothe him in suitable civilian clothing, and had acquired appropriate attire for herself, they arrived in Antwerp. They looked more like nobles rather than just tourists, since Valentina was dressed in a cobalt blue silk dress with a fitted bodice that also had a high-necked collar that fanned out to frame her jaw line, slender sleeves that belled out at the wrist, and a full skirt that flowed to her ankles. She was also wearing a pair of black stiletto-heeled lace up boots, and her blood auburn hair was in a long braid down to her hips. While, Leon was wearing an ivory colored silk shirt under a cobalt blue velvet waistcoat, a pair of black suit pants and a black suit coat that stopped at his hips. The whole effect was surprising because the suit looked like it had been tailored to his body. Valentina had been having trouble keeping her mind on the task at hand on the airship to Antwerp, because the suit looked so good on Leon that it would have been a crime not to notice and because he had kept insisting on putting his head in her lap. It wasn't until the ship had started its descent to the landing strip that she had finally looked at the picture of Sword Dancer. Valentina's eyes had grown wide, the man was gorgeous with long pale blonde hair and jade green eyes, "Why are all the attractive ones either psychotic or priests?"

Leon smiled at her as her cheeks turned slightly pink. She looked at him, "Did I just say that out loud?"

He nodded and laughed as she hid behind the picture of Father Hugue, "You really can be cute," then he put his head in her lap again causing her to have to move her hands to the sides of her seat.

"Get out of my lap."

"Why," he asked as he sprawled out even more on her lap. In spite of herself, Valentina started to laugh and began to push at him, "We just landed, that's why." Leon stood up and held out a hand to help her out of her seat. She looked at him with suspicion as he helped her to her feet and then he pulled her close. He grinned at the wide eyed look on her face, "What did you do that for, Leon?"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"Is this what you call behaved?"

"More or less, I could be much worse."

"Yeah like walking into the fitting room at the dress shop," said Valentina as she push away from Leon, "I never thought you would go away."

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "What did you expect me to do? I spend my free time in prison. Anyway, you are just to _tempting_," the last word was breathed along her neck. Valentina gave an involuntary shiver and looked up at him in shock, "I fail to see the temptation." She grabbed her luggage and then she walked off the airship hoping that the blush crawling up her neck wasn't noticeable, with Leon chuckling to himself behind her.

"I made reservations for separate rooms," said the young redhead in the blue dress standing at the concierge desk. Leon was watching her back with a grin on his face as he tapped her shoulder, "Excuse me, Senora."

Valentina turned around, "What?…Sorry Leon, did you want something?"

"What seems to be the problem," he said looking from her to the concierge. The man behind the counter looked at Leon and decided that it would be best to just be completely honest, "Well sir, the young lady made reservations for two rooms and we only have one room available at the moment."

"So, we will take that room. What's the problem?"

"It's the Bridal suite," said Valentina disparagingly as she placed her head on the counter.

Leon grinned, "Bridal suite…hmm…that means only one bed."

"That means very little privacy, no personal space, and…wait, what is the view from the Bridal suit," said Valentina with a look of sudden comprehension. The concierge began to look relieved that the situation could be resolved with relatively little fuss, "There is a nice view of Count Memlink's estate and gardens from up there."

Valentina took hold of Leon's hand and gave the concierge a bright smile, "We will take the Bridal suite."

Leon looked bemused by the unexpected change of mind and attitude that Valentina just exhibited. She looked up to meet his eyes, "I'll explain after we get to the suite."

Leon swept Valentina into his arms, "Come on Cutie, lets have our honeymoon."

Valentina's eyes grew wide with shock, "Oh…umm… (nervous laugh)…I am never going to live this down, am I."

"Never."

Promptly upon entering their hotel room, Leon set Valentina down, "So, what's with the change of heart?" She watched the porter leave the room after depositing their luggage, then she looked back to Leon, "The Four Cities Alliance is governed by four Counts, all vampires right?"

"There was four, there is only three now but yes they're all vampires. Where were you going with this anyway?"

Valentina walked over to the balcony and made a voila gesture, "The Bridal suite has an advantageous view of Count Memlink's estate and gardens. So…"

"So, Hugue would be watching the estate since Memlink is a vampire," said Leon with a hand over his eyes, "It's really bad when the newbie is three steps ahead of me on something like this." Valentina smiled at him as she walked passed him over to her luggage and opened the smaller of the two black cases. The case had a jewelry tray hiding a compartment normally used for toiletries. Leon watched her pull out the jewelry tray, and reached into the case and removed a black bundle. She unrolled the bundle to reveal a garter knife sheath with three razor sharp throwing knives, two arm sheaths holding one knife each as long as her forearms, and a Jericho M13 with three extra clips of ammo. Leon started to laugh, "Your collection of weapons is making me feel a little inadequate. Are you sure the Jericho won't knock you over, Cutie?"

"I can handle the Jericho just fine, Leon. I am a master in marksmanship, it's all in knowing how to counter balance the force of the recoil," Valentina said as she pulled out something wrapped in a piece of black velvet. The look on Leon's face was envious as she unwrapped the bundle to reveal a set of pure silver chakrams; then his expression changed to shock when she turned to him with her hands held out.

"I thought you could use these," Valentina said as she handed the chakrams to Leon. She walked back to her luggage, pulled out a long midnight blue satin nightgown with spaghetti straps and a black silk robe with brocade trim and walked to the bathroom, "I'm going to take a bath," she turned to look at Leon, "and the door has a skeleton keyhole, so, don't peek in on me while I'm in there."

"_**Me**_," said Leon in a passable tone on wounded innocence, "Valentina, I'm hurt that you would suggest such a thing."

"Sure you are," said Valentina, tone dripping in with sarcasm, as she entered the bathroom. Leon walked over to the door grinning lecherously, "Can I join you?"

"Good bye, Leon," she said as she closed the bathroom door to the sound of Leon's laughter.

Thirty minutes later Leon heard a scream come from the bathroom and ran to the door, "You alright in there?"

There was no response, "Valentina, if you don't answer me then I'm coming in."

Time crept by at an agonizingly slow pace, seconds feeling like minutes and minutes like hours. Two minutes went by with no sound, so, Leon decided to open the door when he heard a small ill-used voice, "oh my head."

"So, are you alright or am I coming in," said Leon, hand still clinched around the doorknob. Valentina looked at the door and saw three doors, "Which one are you behind?"

"What?"

"Which door are you behind?"

"What do you mean which door am I behind?"

"There are three doors."

"No, there's only one door."

"Are you sure?"

"That's it, I'm coming in," the door opened and Leon found Valentina sitting on the floor wrapped in a towel with her head in her hands. He kneeled down next to her, "Did you trip?"

"No," she pointed at the nightgown and robe, "could you get those for me, please?"

"Sure," said Leon as he got up and collected her clothes, then he began to smile, "are you sure you want these clothes or do you want the ones over there?"

"What are you talking about, oh," she grabbed her head and leaned against the cooling tub, "stop picking on me, Leon."

He handed her the clothes and sat down by her, "So, what happened?"

"Get out, so I can get dressed," she sat up and pointed to the door, "If you still want to know what happened after I get out, then I will tell you. Is that alright with you?"

Eyes roving her body, Leon stood up and held out his hand for her, "Are you sure you want me to leave?"

Valentina gave him a wan smile as she took his hand and stood up, "You just want see the rest of me….sorry….no, thank you though."

"Alright, I'll leave," he said as he began to leave the room, he paused at the door, "Oh and I really would love to see the _rest of you_."

Valentina started to laugh as she grabbed a folded towel and threw it at Leon, "Get out," and it hit the door as he closed it behind him.

After ten minutes, Valentina came out of the bathroom while she finished tying off her braided hair, and walked to the bed and laid down. She pulled a pillow over her face and let out a scream of frustration, "aarrgghh…," she felt the bed move.

"Hello Cutie," said Leon as he pulled the pillow off of her and set it back with the others, "so, what happened in there?"

She looked up at him and noticed that he was laying next to her, "Same thing that happened when we first met."

"And that is exactly what?"

"I take it that you were told about my history."

"You were pulled out of the twenty first century by the Rosenkreuds who kept you captive for over a year."

"Well actually, they only held me captive for about three months. I stayed with them after that of my own will…do _not_ look at me like that….oh, I just knew you wouldn't understand," she said as she stood up and began to walk away but Leon grabbed her had, "let go, Leon."

"I will reserve my judgments for after you're done."

Valentina sat back down on the bed, "There is something you need to understand. I was there of my own will but, only because I did not have any other option at the time. They trained me to hone my many skills to the point that I am now a living weapon and the Contra Mundi intended to make me his bride. It was not until I met Abel in Londonium that I had realized that there could be another option other than the Rosenkreudz. That's when I started to listen to the tiny voice in my head that warned me to leave them."

"What do you mean that you _started_ to listen to the tiny voice that warned you to leave?"

"I had deliberately ignored the voice of warning because of how _he_ had made me feel," said Valentina, giving Leon an uneasy smile, "the term that was used to describe a situation like that in my time was called _Stockholm Syndrome_."

"How does this explain what happened in the bathroom?"

"They did something to me. What they did made me stronger and faster but it also made it easier for the Contra Mundi to control me. If I ever defied him, he would force his way into my mind and I would fall to the floor in pain. He would rummage through my mind to find out what I was hiding from him. When I left the Rosenkreudz, his control over me weakened but was not gone. Tonight I fought him off. He couldn't control me but, it weakened me and I fell."

Leon laid there looking at her, "So, you fought off the Contra Mundi and passed out from a headache."

"You could put it that way," she lay back on the bed, "so, are you still going to judge me."

"You didn't know anything else," he released her hand, "once you found another path you took it. Anyway I am serving time in prison for murder; I have don't much room to make judgments."

"Thank you," Valentina whispered. Then she got up off the bed and walked to the balcony, the nighttime sky mixed with lights of the city and Memlink's estate to made a very pretty picture. Standing on the balcony Valentina began to cry as the realization hit her, _**she was free,**_ "For the first time in over a year I am truly free of that twisted man," she said as she wiped away her tears. Leon got up from the bed, and walked to her. He reached out to touch her shoulder when she grabbed his hand, locked his wrist, turned so her back was to hi chest, flipped him over onto his back, and embedded her knee into his neck. Valentina looked down into Leon's face and let go of his wrist. She had been trying to get off of his neck when Leon grabbed her knee and pulled, flipping her on to her back as he rolled on to his hands and knees over her. He took hold of her arms at the wrist, "What was that all about?"

"Sorry, I have a tendency to just react when I see what can be perceived as a threat out of the corner of my eye. I guess I have to learn how to control that," she said as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, "you can let me up now."

"Are you sure, I wouldn't want you to have a relapse," he was grinning at her.

"Leon, at least let go of my arms," she said as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, "I think you are driving them into the floor."

Leon let go of her wrists, "Better?"

"Thank you, now would you please get off of me."

"I don't know, I think I might just lay down," his grin got wider as he lowered himself on top of her.

"Uhg…get off," she pushed at him laughing, then there was a knock at the door, "Who's there?"

"Room service."

She looked at Leon as he stood up and then helped her to her feet, "What were you doing while I was in the bath?"

"Exploring the room service menu of course," her expression made him, laugh as he walked to the door, "it was that or peeking through the keyhole at you while you bathed. Believe me it was hard not to take just a peek."

Valentina watched the server bring in the food, set it out on a table that sat to the side of the room, and after the server, left she glared at Leon, "Are you planning on eating all of that by yourself?"

He laughed, "No, I ordered for both of us. I think only _Abel_ could eat all of that by himself and then he would go for seconds."

"_What_? Abel's so skinny, where does it all go," she asked in astonishment as a mental image of Abel eating floated through her mind. Leon started laughing at her astonished expression and shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows. It is a mystery that will baffle mankind for ages to come."

She actually took a look at the table now a realized that she had been more intent on the server and the amount of food rather than what was on the table. Someone in the service staff had taken the words 'Bridal Suite' to heart, there was a bouquet of roses in the center of the table with a lit candle on either side of the bouquet, and the table was set for two with a bottle of wine. She arched an eyebrow at Leon, "They do take their job seriously don't they."

"What do you mean," said a smiling Leon as he stared at the ceiling to avoid the gaze that was burning a hole into his brain. Valentina stepped up to him with her hands on her hips, "I mean that they had to have assumed that we are on our honeymoon being that we are in the Bridal Suite. Otherwise, they would not have gone to the trouble to produce such a romantic dinner setting," then she noticed at the look of amusement on his face and let out an exasperated sigh, "_**You**_ _**told them **_it was our honeymoon, _**didn't you**_?"

Leon doubled over laughing, Valentina just walked to the table and sat down shaking her head, "I should have known, well I can't get mad at anyone but myself."

He joined her at the table as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, "I couldn't help myself. It will be awhile until I get another chance like this to have dinner with a beautiful lady."

"You are an unrelenting flirt," she said as she removed the dish cover to see roast chicken covered with a cream sauce, and asparagus and she raised her gaze to Leon, "thank you."

They ate in silence for a little while, then an impish grin spread across Valentina's face and she picked up an asparagus spear between her index finger and thumb. Leon watcher her with a curiosity that quickly turned to undisguised passion as she began to eat in a rather erotic manner. By the time she had finished eating and had excused herself from the table, he was gripping the table so hard it was groaning. He watched her as she flitted from one side of the room to the other, putting her things away and folding down the covers on the bed. She removed the robe to reveal the midnight blue nightgown, which clung to her body from the straps down to her hips, and then it cascaded from her hips to her ankles. Then Leon finally left the table and walked over to the bed as she was unbraiding her hair and brushing it out. The whole incident was bringing back memories of his wife before he had ended her life, back when they had been happy and then it donned on him that he would be sharing a bed with a woman for the first time in years and thought, '_This is going to be awkward.'_

Later that night, Leon felt the bed move as Valentina rolled over and cuddled up to him with her hand resting over his heart. He became uncomfortable as he tried to figure where to put his hands, then he just gave up and wrapped himself around her. This felt right to him; it was just a shame that he had to behave himself because at this moment one of his hands was resting at the small of her back just above rear.

The next morning, Valentina woke up to find her head resting against Leon's chest and tried to sit up but he had his arms wrapped around her tightly. She shook him a couple times, "Leon…hey Leon, wake up," he did not so much as twitch an eyelid. Valentina did not have much choice but, to lay there in his arms, so she decided to watch him sleep. For the first time in the small amount of time, that she had known him Leon looked peaceful. Then she thought about putting the thought in his head to loosen his arms and dropped her head back on his chest with a moan of aggravation at herself for not thinking of it sooner. His arms loosened as he began to stir, Valentina got out of his grasp and was getting out of bed. "Hey where are you going," Leon grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms, "Morning Cutie."

"Good Morning Leon," she tried to wriggle out of his arms, "let me go."

"Why," her eyes grew wide initially then she saw the mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "can't we just stay here for awhile? I mean we did just have our honeymoon."

Her eyes narrowed, "Stop it. No more, honeymoon jokes. We can't stay in bed all day…we have a job to do, remember."

Leon let go with a playful pout, "Well alright," but as Valentina got out of bed, she could see in his eyes that the playful attitude was a lie. She hid the distant look on her face that said she was deliberately delving in to someone's mind by looking through her clothes. Last night had been the first night in a long time that he had had any true intimacy with a woman. The emotion running through his mind made tears glisten in her eyes, blinking the tears from her eyes she came back to clarity and was staring at an emerald green silk camisole type shirt. She pulled the shirt out of the wardrobe followed by a long black silk skirt with slits up each side from thigh to hem and a black velvet long coat. She headed to the dresser to collect undergarments then she proceeded to the bathroom to get dressed, only stopping to collect her weapons on her way. Valentina walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later dressed in her shirt and skirt fastening her final arm sheath on, her Jericho M13 was in a holster at the small of her back, and her coat was over her shoulder. She walked over to the bed to put her stockings on, next she fastened her garter sheath on, and then she put on her stiletto-heeled boots. After all, that she put on the long coat, which stopped at her knees and tied her hair back with an emerald colored ribbon. Valentina turned to Leon, who was staring at her with something bordering on pain, "What?"

"Oh, nothing…um….be right back," said Leon as he ran into the bathroom, for five minute straight Valentina could hear muffled curses and the occasional thumping noise that indicated that Leon had punched something. She finally got the courage to go to the bathroom door; she winced when she heard a crash as she was raising her hand to knock, "Leon?"

"What?"

"Are you alright in there? It sounds like you're fighting someone."

"In a manner of speaking, I am."

"Do you need back up," she asked with her hand on the doorknob, "who is winning?"

"No, no back up needed," she could hear him start to laugh but, it sounded harsh, "It's a draw."

"Are you sure you will be alright?"

"Yeah, just give me a moment," she could hear the slight sound of groaning metal.

"Leon, please don't pull the towel rack out of the wall," bitter laughter answered back. Therefore, she swallowed down her unease, and opened the door to find the room in shambles and Leon with his fists clenched around the towel bar hard enough that his knuckles were growing a few shades paler. Valentina was at a loss for words, the towels were all over the place, there was a cabinet that had held the extra towels which was now on its side, and a perfume bottle that had belonged to her was in shards on the floor. Not much could have been done about what had happened but she could straighten up the room. So, she walked over to the cabinet, knelt down to get a hold on it, and lifted it back up into its normal position. Afterwards, she picked up, folded, and put the towels away. Then she walked over to Leon and gently placed a hand on his arm, he flinched at her touch, "Leon?"

He placed a hand over the hand she had rested on his arm then, with a speed that she had not expected, he clutched her hand and pulled close to him. Valentina closed her eyes as she tried hard to ignore the feelings pouring into her head from Leon, it was a menagerie of self-anger, desire, and loneliness, and it made her cry. "Leon, we can talk if you need to. But we need to start looking for Hugue today," she said as she gently pushed her way out of his arms and wiped her tears away. Leon took her face in his hands, "Why are you crying?"

"I can't shut you out of my mind. You are so lonely and I can feel it as though I was the lonely one. I have never had this problem before, you get in my head without me trying to read your mind," she took hold of his hands and removed them from the sides of her face, "we have to find Hugue. I can have a cry over my inadequacies later. Let's go."

Valentina left the hotel room as she wiped away the tears and swallowed down her sorrow. Leon followed her out of the hotel wondering how this assignment had gone from looking for Sword Dancer to exploring his and Valentina's feelings.

Hours had passed as they searched for Father Hugue de Watteau, codename Sword Dancer, and now the sun was setting. Valentina and Leon were now searching in separate directions having agreed to meet at the steps of the Cathedral of Our Lady. With her mind feeling for anything unusual, Valentina walked down the street heading for the Cathedral when a cloaked man, with what looked like a steel rod, walked passed her. A feeling of unrelenting rage that was fed by revenge washed over her, it was practically radiating from the cloaked man. And under all that rage was a deep seeded loneliness that made her feel like her heart would break from the pain. Valentina turned to see him disappear around a corner and followed him. She was running to catch up with the cloaked man when someone reached out and pulled her into an alley. An arm was wrapped around her waist holding her against an obviously male body with another hand over her mouth, "Why are you following the priest?"

The man removed his hand from her mouth, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Now now, no lies pretty lady. I would hate for something to happen to all this lovely pale skin," the man said as he pulled her head to the side and ran his lips just above her skin, she let out a small shuddering gasp. The man made a low animalistic growl, "You smell absolutely mouth-watering. The Count would love you."

"Vampire," said a soft male voice at the head of the alley. Valentina looked up the alley to see the man she had been following. The vampire took a step back holding firm to her, "Stay back or I'll break the pretty lady's neck. On the other hand perhaps you would like to see her writhe and moan as I drain every last drop of blood from her body."

"Let the woman go and leave, vampire," said the cloaked man as he approached, "I will let you go on your way but only if you free the woman."

"You have some nerve for a Terran," said the vampire as he pulled Valentina tighter to him than could be imagined forcing out a small painful groan, "I think I will just leave this way with the woman."

"You're not going anywhere with me," said Valentina as she brought up a hand wreathed in blue flames and touched the vampire's face. He let out a scream and threw her at an alley wall; she used the wall like a springboard and leapt behind the cloaked man. The vampire yelled at her, "I'll have your blood for that."

"You would have taken my blood anyway," she reached into a sleeve and pulled out a knife the length of her forearm, "I might as well make you work for it."

The vampire tried to charge passed the cloaked man, only to find that a sword had cut through his neck like a hot knife through butter. "How is that possible? You move…" the vampire's body fell and the head rolled to Valentina's feet. She kicked the head lightly so it would roll back to the body, "So, who are you?"

"Father Hugue," he watched her eyes widen, "are you going to be alright?"

She sheathed the knife and pulled the Jericho out of the holstered at the small of her back with a wince, "He almost permanently embedded this into my back, ouch."

The world began to spin as Valentina stumbled, almost tripping over her own feet, and fell into the arms of Father Hugue. He looked down at her gun, it was covered in blood, and the vampire had driven the gun into her back. Hugue looked up at the sound of running followed by a familiar voice, "Valentina!"

"Down here Leon," he said as he supported the injured woman.

"Valentina…what happened, Hugue," said Leon while he ran down the alley.

"Explanations can wait. She is injured," Hugue lifted the petite woman, so, she was cradled in his arms like a child, "we must leave."

Valentina woke up in the hotel room wearing her nightgown, she could feel that her was back bandaged up, and her weapons lying were on the side table by the bed. She sat up with a wince; her back was more stiff that in pain anymore. Looking around the room, she noticed Leon talking to the cloaked priest,_ 'what was his name? Hugue.'_ She got out of bed and, although a little stiffly, walked over to the two men, "What's going on?"

"You should be in bed," said Leon, wrapping an arm gently around her waist to support her.

"I'm fine," she looked from one man to the other, "Now, tell me what is going on."

"Hugue says he's not coming back with us."

"Like Hell he's not."

"I still have things to do in Antwerp."

Valentina narrowed her eyes at him, "Revenge wont bring your family back and it wont save Ana."

"How did you-" she cut him off "I can defiantly sympathize since I was stolen from my family, and my family is long dead now. However, revenge only precipitates revenge and eventually there will be nothing to live for. It will blind you until you cannot see that which you care about, even if it was in front of you. Excuse me."

She walked off to the wardrobe, picked out a black bundle and a pair of priest's boots, walked over to the side table to collect her arm sheaths, and walked off to the bathroom. But to Leon's bemusement she left the door partially open, Valentina removed the nightgown to get a better look at the bandage and pulled the bandage back enough to see the wound, it was almost completely healed let's hear it for being a freak. She ripped the bandage off, unfolded the bundle to reveal a set of priest's robes identical style to Hugue's vestments, and got dressed in the robes. When she left the bathroom, she looked like a tiny priest with long braided blood auburn hair, "Ok, lets go."

"What," Hugue was actually taken aback.

"I'm going to help you."

"No."

"You can try to stop me, Father. However, it would be best for all of us if you don't," the look in her eyes said that he had no choice. Hugue walked passed her, "Come on then."

"What am I doing while the two of you are out doing who knows what" asked Leon as he grabbed Valentina's hand before she walked out the door, "You're injured."

She shook her head, "I healed."

"I'm coming with you."

"No," she smiled at his concern, this side Leon was new to her, it intrigued her, "I want you to-"

"If you think I'm letting you go help Hugue get killed without me there to protect your back, then you are crazy."

Valentina reached up to his face and pulled him down to her eyelevel, "If we are going to die than there is something I would like to do just once before we do die," and she kissed him. Leon was taken aback at first, and then he kissed her back with desperate passion, anything to keep her there and out of danger. She broke the kiss first, "We need to go," and they ran out into the night, after Hugue.

They had lost Hugue with the delay that their kiss had caused but Valentina had no regrets it had been worth it just for look on Leon's face after she had stepped away from him. She hadn't seen a look like that since, the thought brought up a mental picture of Dietrich, shaking her head as though she were trying to shake the memories away she ran around a corner and toward the Cathedral of Our Lady. The Cathedral looked like a war zone when she ran through the door, the building had been closed for renovations so it was already a mess but, what made it worse was the bodies of vampires and police scattered all over the cathedral's floor. There was a light blood trail heading out of the building. Valentina fished out her earpiece, "Seraphim to Iron Maiden…Come in."

"Seraphim…you're not supposed to be bringing attention to yourself," Kate's voice chimed in her ear.

"Sorry, I have no choice. I need to know about Hugue's family."

"Father Hugue's family? What do you need to know?""Well, for example, what position did they have in the Four Cities?"

"The men of the Watteau family held the position of Four Cities Alliance Chief Inspector for generations."

"What is the name of the current Chief Inspector," asked Valentina as she and Leon left the cathedral.

"The present Chief Inspector is Jan van Maylen. Recorded as being the youngest Chief Inspector in history, he took the position not long after the Watteau family was massacred by vampires."

"And where is Maylen's estate," Kate gave her the location, "thank you."

"No problem, Kate Out."

"Come on," said Valentina as she broke into a dead run with Leon catching up rather quickly.

"Where are we going?"

"We are going to Chief Inspector Maylen's estate to keep Hugue out of trouble," she said as she turned a corner.

"Why would he go there? The Chief Inspector is never a vampire."

"Call me crazy if you want but, it just strike me as being too much of a coincidence that a man becomes the youngest man to take the position of Chief Inspector and not long after the vampires slaughter the family that had held the post for generations. I think he betrayed the Watteau family and Hugue knows it," they ran down an alley to cut time.

"How do you know where you are going," asked Leon, realizing that he had no idea where they were or where they were going.

"I studied a map of Antwerp while we were on the airship. I didn't spend the entire time staring at Hugue's picture," she said as the came out of the alley, she stopped to get her bearings, and then she ran down the road toward the sea. Leon followed close as she turned another corner and stopped at the gate of a lovely house. Leon grabbed her arm, "Where did you get priest's robe?"

"I got them from Sister Angelina before we left for Antwerp," she said as they walked up to the front door. They entered the house, separating to cover more ground they looked from room to room and found more dead bodies. Valentina kneeled by one body and noticed claw marks, _vampires?_ She stood up to move to go to the next room, when someone latched on to her from behind, "What? I just checked this room."

"Not well enough young man," said a man's voice in her ear, and then he smelled her skin, "oh… (laughter)…you're not a man at all but a young woman in priest's robes."

He spun her around to face him; he was tall with long black hair and face that could have been called handsome. However, she was prejudiced when it came to what could be considered handsome and he just did not do it for her. He placed his lips just above the skin on her neck, "I always wanted to know what a nun tasted like."

Valentina shouted for Leon when the vampire bit into her neck and a familiar heat washed over her, the heat that said she was changing. She could feel the change happening the light glowing under her skin, the electrically charged wind whirling around her forcing her hair to float above her like she was in water, and her wings began to grow out from her back. The vampire backed up in horror, "What are you?"

"I am the Seraphim, I am a crusnik and you are prey," she said in a voice that echoed through the house, alerting Hugue to what he was walking into. Valentina looked sideways at her attacker like a bird staring at a worm, "You are food."

"Die monster," shouted the vampire as his fingernails turned into razor-sharp talons the length of short swords and ran at her. The talons embed just below her heart, afterward the vampire began to scream in pain and horror while his veins bulged, as the blood was suck out of his body then he caught on fire. She watched the vampire turn to ash with little emotion, then looked up to see Leon and Hugue standing there staring at her with confused looks on their faces. For the first time she had ever taken crusnik form, she felt horror at what she had become. A fear welled up in her, that old fear of being judged for being a freak. Her wings wrapped around her as she collapsed and began to cry, "Stay away."

Slowly she changed back to human form as she thought, _'I am a monster.'_

Two weeks passed since the Antwerp incident and Valentina was still hiding in her dorm, the only time she would leave the dorm was for meals. She would not talk to anyone especially not Leon or Hugue, who both seemed determined to corner her every chance they could to find the underlying cause of what had happened only to have her either give them the slip or just stare off into space. The only person to get her to talk was Abel, until he had asked what had happened and she shut down. She did everything to avoid him hoping that Leon had not told him anything, Hugue hardly ever spoke, so, she knew he had not said _anything_ to _anyone_. Then one morning, Abel knocked on the door to her room and started to open it, "Valentina, are you awake?"There was the pattering of running feet and then there was a loud thud as the door forcibly shut, indicating that the door had been hit by a rapidly decelerating body without enough room to stop, "Go Away."

"Are you alright," he asked as he tried to reopen the door, it would not budge. Abel thought that Valentina must have been leaning against it.

"No, I'm a freak. How can anything be alright when I am a freak and everyone knows it," Valentina's voice floated into the dark hallway.

"You are not a _**Freak**_."

"I produce blue flames with a thought, I can read a person's mind like a much loved book then turn around and make them try to assassinate the Empress of the New Human Empire, and I can manipulate the weather. How does _**that**_ make me _normal_?"

"Is anyone truly normal? You have been gifted great abilities," Abel said as he sat down, leaning with his back to the door. He could hear her sobbing on the other side of the door. He turned his head to the side to hear better, "Valentina, I have always thought of you as a gift from God."

Her laughter was broken and embittered sounding, "Yeah, delivered to you by Rosenkreudz Time Mail," her voice dripped with cynicism, "_**that's me**_, the ever constantly misdirected parcel."

Abel's heart sank to hear her talk about herself like that; he could feel her sadness through the door as though it were his own. They both remained silent for sometime before the silence, was finally broken, by a tiny and very frightened voice, "Father Nightroad?"

"Yes?"

"How do you cope with it?"

"Cope with what?"

"With being what you are?"

"What, a priest? I cope with it very easily, actually."

"No," Valentina's voice had become truly melancholy, "how do you cope with being different? You are a strange angel with a dark nature. As well as an ever desperate need to live in the light."

"You _did_ see me in Londonium," there was apprehension in Abel's voice.

"Yes," her sad voice had a haunting lilt to it, like it had been the wind that had whispered the word. The sound had caused Abel's throat to tighten.

"I have never coped with it."

"Why," the question had startled Abel, not '_how can that be,'_ or _'I don't believe you,'_ just simply _'why.'_

"I am a sinner."

"Aren't we all at one time or another."

"I am a _**monster**_," the words were low and harsh as he ran his hands through his hair. The door opened so fast that Abel feel on his back, "_**You are not a monster**_," Valentina's voice was near to tears. She walked to her window and pretended to be interested in the pattern on the curtains while she wiped away her tears. To Abel who hadn't bothered to get up she looked to have been on the ceiling rather than the floor. Her voice seemed to echo as she whispered, "Then there is no hope for me."

Abel had finally gotten to his feet, "What," the comment had surprised him. Abel failed to see the connection between his being a monster and there being no hope for her. He watched her bury her face in the curtains and sob, "I am a monster."

"You are not," Abel said gently. Valentina turned to look at him and he could have sworn that there had been a momentary flash of emerald and sapphire colored light in her eyes like supernovas, "That is rather hypocritical of you, Father."

"It may be but, I don't see a monster," he walked over to her and rested his hands on her shoulders, "I see a frightened young woman."

"You don't know what happened in Antwerp, do you," she sounded surprised, "Leon and Hugue didn't say a thing, did they?"

"Not a word from Hugue," he gave her a warm smile, "Leon, just said that you had a traumatic experience involving a vampire."

"Nothing else," Valentina's eyes had grown wide with the knowledge that Leon had said nothing about her turning into a monster, _'Could it be that he doesn't see me as a monster?'_

"Well," Abel's face turned at little red with embarrassment, "Leon said that you kissed him."

Valentina dropped her head with relief and started to laugh, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You mean that you really did kiss _**him**_," the last word sounded incredulous but, when she looked up into his face the tone and his facial expression didn't match. However, there was a look in his eyes that did match the tone, out of curiosity she delved into his mind and saw that he was completely unaware of even using such an incredulous tone. But, there was a dark area in his mind that was aware of it and it was calling to her, she wanted to go there it felt like the safest place she had ever been. She shook her head as her mind ran from that dark place, it had reached out and touch the darkness in her. Then she realized that there were tears running down her cheeks, and she was enveloped in Abel's arms, "I would rather live two days as a tigress, than one hundred years as a lamb. And I won't ask anyone for forgiveness, not even God."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No, what did that mean?"

Valentina looked up, "It means that I knew I could have been following Hugue to my death and the last thing I wanted to do was die without living a little. So, I kissed the one person at that moment had meant the world to me even if it was only because I trusted my life to him. I would rather die than take back my actions."

"Oh," Abel hugged her tighter, "well that makes sense, _I guess_."

"Abel," she whispered his name like it was a prayer and closed her eyes as she hugged him back. He was now her safe harbor and a part of him, which he seemed to have buried deep in his subconscious, welcomed her with open arms and a pair of wings to hide her from _Cain_.

Later that day, Leon looked up the path, that lead up to the orphanage, to the approaching figure and realized with relief that Valentina had finally came out of hiding. She looked different like the incident at Chief Inspector van Maylen's had never happened but, he couldn't forget running into the room to find an angel in Valentina's priest robes. He also was unable to forget how Valentina had completely shut down and how she had tried to ovoid him. And now she looked as though she hadn't spent the passed two weeks hiding in her room, _crying_. Valentina walked up and hugged him, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not telling anyone that I turned into a monster. Especially not Cardinal Sforza and Father Nightroad."

Leo held her out at arms length, "First of all, you are _**not**_ a monster."

"But I-"

"You are an angel and I will always think of you as such."

"An angel who turned someone to a pile of ash without feeling a twinge of remorse for the needless act of taking a life? So, apparently you think an angel is supposed to act like a sociopath."

"You are not a sociopath, believe me I met my fair share of them in the war. I think you were just suffering from shock brought on by your attack."

"I guess that could be what had happened," Valentina looked like she was skeptical but was trying to keep an open mind, "but, it still doesn't answer why you didn't tell Her Eminence or…," she lowered her head, "or why you didn't tell Father Nightroad."

"Well, I didn't need to tell Cardinal Sforza. Because you told her," he smiled when she looked back up at him with wide eyed look.

"What do you mean, _**I told her**_? I don't remember even talking to her after we returned."

"You put it in the report."

"_**What report? I didn't write a report.**_"

"You did actually, right after we got back to the hotel," he pulled her back in for a hug; "I owe you."

"For what, exactly?"

"You didn't mention my…lets just call it questionable behavior."

"Oh…um…your welcome, Leon."

Leon had finally registered something about what she had said earlier, like someone had kicked him in the head, "_**Abel? What does that four-eyed goofball have to do with any of this? Why would you be so worried about him knowing**_…_oh," _Valentina nodded as Leon let her go, "He doesn't know that you are-"

"That's right, Abel doesn't know that I am a crusnik and I plan on it staying that way," she was looking off to the side, biting her lower lip as she ran the toe of one shoe from side to side on the ground. When she finally looked up to meet Leon's gaze her eyes were as hard as steel, "if I can help it, he will never know."

"Why not, everyone in the AX will eventually find out if the Cardinal wills it so. Why leave him out in the dark?"

"Because, if he has such little regard for what he is, I fear that I will lose my strange friend if he discovers what I have become," Valentina gave Leon another hug, "None of it really matters, I guess. I won't be completely friendless now will I?"

"No, you won't. I will always be your friend," Leon said as he thought, _'How can I not? I fell for you so hard that I think I may never recover.'_

Valentina blinked her eyes, "What did you say?"

"I will always be your friend."

"Oh," she brought her brow together and thought, _'That's not right. I hear him say that he…'_ her eyes filled with tears, _'…he loves me?'_

She snuggled closer, "I guess this is good bye for now, my friend."

"What?"

"Her Eminence is sending me to Milan. She said that I was to get my head screwed back on straight," she stepped back from Leon. His arms falling to his sides when his plump, well shaped, lips widened in a grin that said he had thought of something dirty. Valentina's hand flew to rest on her hips as she gave him a mock scowl, "You know perfectly well what the Cardinal meant by my screwing my head on straight. She needs everyone at one hundred percent right now. What with Abel and Noelle going to Barcelona, she needs everyone else to be here to get ready for Archbishop d'Este's arrival."

Leon began to laugh so hard tears streamed down his face and he fell to his knees, "I'm sorry but, I couldn't help myself."

Valentina stepped closer to him and kissed him on the cheek, "See you in a couple weeks, my friend."

Leon got back to his feet while he watched Valentina head back to the Vatican and wished her the best of luck, and a speedy return.

The following week found Valentina bored out of her mind until she had found a piano in the Duchess of Milan's home. Sitting at the piano she closed her eyes as ran her fingers along the smooth ivory keys and listened to the notes chime. Pictures floated through her mind as she played, the look on Leon's face after she broke from their kiss, Hugue at the head of the alley facing off with the vampire threatening her, and Abel on the other side of her door refusing to leave until she talked to him. Her song was sad and beautiful until Cain came to mind and her fingers slammed down onto the piano keys with a sour note. Leaning her head on top of the piano, Valentina began to cry, _'Cain is never going to let me live a normal life. Not as a nun and definitely not as a __**woman**__.'_

"Lady di Medici," Valentina looked up at the transparent hologram of Sister Kate Scott, "you are requested back in Rome."

"Of course," Valentina said as she stood up, "but, why?"

"There has been a terrorist attack in Barcelona," Kate noticed the look of quite horror on Valentina's face, "we lost an agent out there."

"Who?""Sister Noelle," Valentina's expression changed from horror to sadness.

"I liked her."

"We all liked her."

"What did they discover in Barcelona?"

"The terrorist used some sort of low-frequency weapon on the city. Father Nightroad encountered the terrorist in the Sagrada Familia."

"What was the terrorist's name?"

"Isaak von Kampfer."

Valentina's eyes narrowed as she clinched her hands into fists, "_**Isaak Fernand von Kampfer?**_"

"Yes, I take it that he is a member of the Rosenkreudz?"

"Yes, Isaak Fernand von Kampfer. Rank Magus, title Panzer Mager which means 'Wizard of Machines', and a prized prat of the highest order, _he murdered Noelle_," she was walking out of the room, "take me back to Rome."

Valentina packed her belongings and ran to the Iron Maiden; she didn't finally stop crying until they had taken off, "Poor Abel, Noelle really loved him. He must be beside himself with grief."

'_Rest in peace, Sister Noelle. I will watch over Abel for you, and try to keep him out of trouble,' _Valentina promised to the memory of the beautiful nun who had made her feel welcome in spit of how uncomfortable she had been. They finally arrived back in Rome about half an hour after leaving Milan. Valentina ran from the ship to her dorm room, where she carelessly threw her bag through the door way and broke into a dead run for Cardinal Sforza's office narrowly missing several nuns and priests, and almost knocking over Sister Paula.

The hallway out side Cardinal Sforza's office was ringing with the sound of rapidly moving high-heeled shoes, Caterina asked Father Havel to see what was going on. Havel opened the door, "**Look Out**, "in just enough time to have Valentina run into him, instead of the door. At the sight of AX agents Seraphim and Know Faith colliding, Caterina closed her eyes with a wince, '_Abel is a bad influence on Valentina, and he turned her into a menace.'_

Valentina felt something move under her and opened her eyes to find that Father Vaclav Havel's face was just inches from hers, "Oh…um…sorry," and she sat up only to find that she was actually on top of Havel. Crawling off of him in a great hurry she kept apologizing, "I am so sorry, Father."

"That is quite alright, Sister Valentina."

"I have trouble stopping in these shoes. When I have enough forward momentum built up nothing except maybe a pair of boots can stop me fast enough. Otherwise, I tend to run into things just ask Father Nightroad."

Father Havel gave her a warm smile with a touch of amusement as he helped her to her feet, "It really is alright, Sister. Everyman needs to be knocked over by a lovely woman at least once in their life, or else life wouldn't be worth it."

"Thank you, Father," Valentina turned to the Cardinal, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, there is. Please go help Ester find Father Nightroad," Caterina looked worried, "he disappeared shortly after he gave his report."

"Yes, Your Eminence," Valentina gave her a bow that was more common amongst sword masters than nun, "I am sure he's really upset about Noelle's death."

Valentina left the room to go find Abel, only this time it was at a slow jog. She was thinking of where to start looking when she found herself almost colliding with another priest. He caught her before either of them or both of them fell to the ground, "Hello, Lady di Medici."

The man's cold voice made Valentina look into a pair of cold jade eyes that had thawed a little since the night in the alley when he rescued her, "Oh…um…hello, Father Hugue."

"It is truly good to see you back to normal," said Hugue as he released her.

"And not a monster," Said Valentina while she looked at the floor, she had no urge to see the look of distain in his eyes her own self loathing was enough.

"You are no monster," she had to look up because she couldn't allow herself to hope that she had heard Hugue right. The words had come out in that same cold voice however the look in Hugue's eyes did not match the coldness of his voice. In fact the look in his eyes boded ill for anyone who labeled her a monster, it mad Valentina think better of him. She gave him an appreciative smile, "Thank you, Father Hugue. However I have been charged with finding Father Nightroad and it appears that you have your own duties to perform. Good bye, Father."

"Good bye, Sister Valentina," said Hugue with a bow that betrayed his upbringing, it labeled him nobility. Then Valentina surprised Hugue, but pleasantly, as she gave him a sword master's salute, "May your sword never fail you," afterwards she jogged down the hallway. He watched her disappear around a corner, "May your blades always strike true."

Needless to say the normally antisocial young priest had been charmed by Valentina; she made him wish for the past. Hugue seemed to be constantly wishing for the events of ten years ago to have never happened, because he would have been able to allow himself to love the petite beauty with the blood auburn hair and emerald eyes. She had haunted his dreams, plagued them actually, ever since the night in the alley when he took down the vampire that had tried to attack her. However, he knew that there would never be anything between them while he obsessed over the revenge of the massacre of his family. Anyway she always seemed to have Leon following her and not far behind Leon tended to be Father Nightroad.

Valentina ran off to find Abel as she thought about what had been going on in Hugue's mind. '_Oh no, not Hugue too. I can see Leon being in love with me_ _but, Hugue? He gives off a coldness that could freeze the sun and yet he is infatuated with __me__ that is just a little too weird for me. If anyone else becomes infatuated with me, Cardinal Sforza can sell tickets.' _Shaking her head she ran into the dark foreboding streets of Rome with only one thought on her mind, _find Abel_.

Scouring the streets for Abel with no results, and the sun had almost set completely, Valentina ran back to the Vatican. She passed two Inquisitors who informed her of Cardinal Sforza's imprisonment and that she was to go, by decree of Cardinal Francesco di Medici, to the office of the Ministry of Holy Affairs until further notice. She smiled while walking passed the two men because they had no idea that they had told what she really needed to know, that Cardinal Sforza was at the grave of Pope Gregorio her father's grave. Now did she go to the office like the Inquisitor had instructed, or did she go to the aid of Cardinal Sforza. "Francesco can bite me," said Valentina as she headed in the direction of the crypts under San Pietro's Cathedral. She ran through the plaza of San Pietro, passed the obelisk, to save time and found herself almost being ran over by Leon, Hugue, the Professor, Havel, and Tres. Looking up, Valentina saw an octopus-like creature, "Wonderful, just wonderful…a Kunstliche Geist. So, Isaak brought his toys."

With a great amount of difficulty Valentina walked off to help the Cardinal and with one last look behind her she wishes them luck. Determined to get to Cardinal Sforza as soon as possible, she was running to get there hoping that Caterina was safe only to be overtaken by Abel, "Valentina, stay out of this."

"If you think for even one second that I am going to let the lot of you get killed. While you all leave me behind to pick up the pieces, _YOU'RE CRAZY_," she picked up her pace to catch up with him.

"Just stay out of the way."

Tears were stinging Valentina's eyes making it hard for her to see, "You said that I wouldn't be alone. You said _YOU WOULD BE MY FRIEND!_"

Valentina blinked the tears away and picked up enough speed to run past Abel, who wrapped his arms around her as she ran by and stopped. He spun her around cupping her face in his hands, "I lost a good friend in Noelle and I am _**not**_ going to lose your friendship too because the Rosenkreudz have killed you."

"They wont kill me, they need me too much for me to be that expendable."

"I'm sorry but, that's not a chance I am willing to take," said Abel as he let her go and ran off to save the Cardinal. Valentina stood there in shock watching one of her dearest friends running to his death, "Abel, come back to us in one piece," she collapsed to her knees and whispered, "_you have to come back, _otherwise all I have is Cain staring me in the face."

Sister Ester Blanchett ran to her, "Did Father Nightroad come this way?"

"Yes," Valentina said as she got back to her feet and took the younger nun by the hand, "let's get out of harms way."

Valentina lead Ester to San Pietro's Cathedral while she thought, _'Even if They wont let me fight at there sides I can at the very least protect Ester. She is to pure for her to take any part in this and Dietrich seems to like her. That is a reasons on its own to keep her; I must keep Dietrich far from Ester.'_

The two nuns walked into the cathedral with prayers in their hearts for all of their fellow AX agents.

A month later, Valentina was heading for Venice to check on the progress of a certain priest. On the journey she contemplated the events of the past month, Valentina never quite understood why she had allowed Abel to fight had allowed any of them to fight without her aid. Why had she taken Ester indoors and just sat there looking at her hands as she listened to the fighting outside? This was a dilemma that had haunted her every waking thought for the passed month and it had weaseled its way into her dream in the past week. Well, that and why Hugue had been staring at her in a funny way for the past two weeks. Shaking away her thoughts upon arrival in Venice on the night of carnival. She walked into the night to look for her unusual friend, "That Imperial agent better not endanger Abel."

A good two hours had passed and she hadn't found Abel, then a series of explosions alerted her to a problem just two streets away from were she was searching. "What the hell," Valentina had fallen over from the last explosive burst. Brushing herself off, she got to her feet and ran to the explosion site to see if there was anything she could do to help. Running out of an alley into blast sight Valentina looked around in shock because Venice had been one of the most beautiful cities still in existence was now a war zone. A shriek alerted her to something being very wrong, "F-Father!"

Valentina looked across the waterway to the sight of a lovely woman with blonde hair and a red streak in her bangs, she was hovering over an unconscious priest with blonde hair that looked silver in this light and Valentina knew that it a was Father Nightroad. A heavy feeling weighing on her chest, like large hand crushing her heart, pushed down on her forcing her to her knees. Unable to move Valentina watched the medics move through the crowd triaging those who could be saved. They took Abel away with the blonde haired woman and she cursed herself for not showing up sooner maybe she could have taken the brunt of the damage.

The following evening, Valentina had been ordered to attend the mass at St. Mark's Cathedral. She stood amongst the multitude of clergy dressed like a priest with her hip length blood auburn hair braided down her back tied with a black ribbon and a pair of silver-framed glasses. A priest leaned over to her, "Lady di Medici, why are you here?"

"I was ordered to attend mass just like you, Father Havel."

"I see. Well, I must say you look good in priest's robes and black has always been most becoming on you," Havel said politely.

"Thank you Father," she turned her attention to the Pope. Valentina watched as the Pope concluded Mass and leave the altar to find Endre Kourza with an axe. Then the axe was broken and the Pope turned out to be the woman from the blast site the night before. Valentina was certain she had seen the woman in the New Human Empire, '_I think that was Astaroshe Asran the Duchess of Kiev.'_

Kourza took a choirboy captive and went down a tunnel under the altar, it had been a throwback to the Pre-Armageddon times, and Valentina watched Asthe follow him down. In the midst of the chaos she ran to the altar to see what was happening only to have Abel stop her, not noticing who she was.

'_Well, at least he is alright,'_ Valentina thought with relief. She followed fifteen feet behind Abel, after he went down the tunnel, and she heard gunfire as she reached the last ten feet of the tunnel. Valentina's brain never worked properly around Abel, and she didn't quite know why. She ran as her mind raced with the repeated thought of, '_Please don't let them be hurt, don't let them die because I wasn't fast enough,_' although her frantic plea had really been meant more for Abel than for Asthe.

As she exited the tunnel Valentina found Endre Kourza thrashing around on the ground screaming in pain, and Abel kissing Astaroshe's hand. She stopped and looked at the two them, her heart inexplicably sank, and using her telekinetic abilities to collect the silver orbs that made up Kourza's Aegis Shield in a black sack that she produced from a pocket in her robes. Taking one last look at Asthe and Abel, Valentina walked quietly back up the tunnel. Entering the cathedral she handed Havel the sack, "This is the vampire's Aegis Shield, please give it to the Duchess of Kiev when she comes back up."

"Of course, but why are you crying, my lady? Are you injured," ask Havel as she handed him the sack. Valentina gave him an odd look, she hadn't been aware of her own tears, and touched her cheeks, sure enough she was crying, "I'm fine, thank you for my concern, Father Havel. I'm just tired."

Abel and Asthe were coming back up with Kourza when Valentina was leaving the underground chapel to the main level of the cathedral. Abel looked up the stairs to see a flash of blood auburn hair disappear into the main cathedral and then he remembered a young red haired priest with silver-framed glasses, and shook his head, '_It couldn't have been._'

Father Havel handed Asthe the sack that held the Aegis orbs, "Lady di Medici said that this was to go to you."

Abel smacked his forehead and ran upstairs to find a red-haired woman in priest's robes, which looked a lot like Hugue's robes, kneeling in front of the altar saying a silent prayer. He watched her from the shadows as she stood up and quietly left the cathedral, but Abel noticed that her entire body shook and she collapsed in the archway of the church, "Valentina!"

Abel ran to help her, but a young man with short brown hair, that looked suspiciously familiar, was helping her to her feet. He held her close as he said, "My poor little Valentina, you have no idea how I have missed you, come with me and my master will make all your grief go away."

"Dietrich? Let go," she said in a small voice as she pushed weakly at his chest.

"The Contra Mundi loves you without condition," the young man continued as though she hadn't even spoken but now the weakness melted away leaving stiff resolve. And Valentina freed herself of Dietrich's grasp, taking several steps backwards, "Go away, and tell your master to choke on his offers of love and power. I will never go back to that devil in an angel's guise. I will dwell in my darkness and love my scars as I loved those who scarred me."

An arm wrapped around her and a gun in the person's other hand was aimed at the smiling youth, "You're not alone Valentina, remember I am your friend."

"Abel?"

Dietrich laughed and as he disappeared into shadow he said, "My master will have more fun re-collecting you himself, good bye my love."

"No," Valentina's heart couldn't take anymore, with the inexplicable pain that erupted in her after seeing Abel kissing Asthe's hand, and the renewal of the pain of Dietrich's double betrayal, she pass out. Abel dropped his gun and wrapped both arms around her sinking form, and whispered, "Valentina…don't leave me, you are my friend and the only person to truly nonjudgmental of me for being what I am."

"Abel, let go. You are grinding my gun into my thigh," said a weak voice and he looked into a blinking pair of frosted emerald eyes sparkling with unshed tears. She was smiling at him, "Thank you for helping me, my friend," her eyes started to close again, "I really am quite tired…"

Abel smiled, "Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't come back to abduct you in your sleep…" and a name popped in his head from a long forgotten part of his past and he whispered, "little Tina."

"I think you dropped this," said a female voice and Abel turned to find Sister Kaya Syokka, AX agent Gypsy Queen, with a smirk on her face and his gun in her hand. He took the gun from her and put it back in its holster, "Thank You."

"Is she alright," she was looking at the tearstained face of Valentina with a note of concern. Cradling Valentina in both arms like a small child, Abel carried her inside, "She will be, but now it's best to let her sleep. She has had quite a trying ordeal."

"Valentina…_Valentina_…" the voice was slowly getting louder. Valentina stirred in her sleep as a gentle hand touched her forehead and she let out a small whimper, "Abel."

"Wake up dear one," said a voice that matched the gentleness of the hand stroking Valentina's forehead and she opened her eyes expecting to perhaps see Sister Ester or some other nun, instead the person before her was someone Valentina knew to be dead not only dead she had seen her decapitated by Cain in a dream.

"Lilith?"

"Yes."

"But you are-"

"Dead, not really just in a high dormant state until I heal. It could take centuries before I am healed enough to retain consciousness. However, if my nanomachines are taken away from me then I will surely die."

Now understanding that Lilith was for all intents and purposes in a coma of sorts slowly healing herself, Valentina finally asked, "So, what is going on?"

"I needed you to understand something about yourself that has remained dormant for the past millennia."

"What do you mean," asked Valentina with a quizzical expression growing on her face. Lilith held a hand out to Valentina, "Come with me dear one. I have a lot to explain and little time to explain it."

Valentina took her hand without any reservations and followed Lilith to the observation deck of the ARK, "Do you know where you are now?"

"The ARK also known as the vampire's moon and this is the observation deck."

"Good now do you know why I have brought you here?"

"No. You say that I have dormant memories but I am pretty sure I was never here. I dreamed about this place, realistic dreams but still just dreams."

Lilith touched Valentina's forehead and images floated through her mind, "You used to visit us here every night from your sixteenth year to your eighteenth year. You were to me like a younger sister and to Seth you were a good friend."

"It was just a dream," said Valentina in denial but other images showed in her mind, "it has to be a dream. Otherwise, how did I get here?"

"You had manifested an ability to travel from one place in time to another while you slept but only to here and your own time. The first time you showed up here, you had landed on a lab table covered with glass and some of the shards punctured your major arteries."

The memory of searing pain in her neck, and wrists and the pain of something large sticking out of her thigh. Closing her eyes Valentina saw little Seth, with her large green eyes and short black hair, taking a large syringe and injecting something into her thigh close to Valentina's punctured femoral artery. Her body had grown impossibly hot as each wound closed after the glass was removed. Opening her eyes she found herself back on the observation deck, "That is impossible, there is no way whatsoever that I was a crusnik before Cain abducted me. He would have known, wouldn't he, that I was a crusnik?"

"No one apart from Seth and myself knew that you were a crusnik. That is until Abel found out but Cain never knew."

"How did Abel find out and how come he doesn't remember me now?"

"Abel overheard Seth and I talking to you about how to control your crusnik nature and was beside himself with pleasure. He followed you around after that always asking questions about your life back home, the two of you had become the closest of friends by the time of your seventeenth birthday."

"Yes but it doesn't explain why he doesn't remember me if this was all real," Valentina was getting anxious for the answer as to why he hadn't recognized her when they first me in that church in Albion. Lilith gave Valentina a hug, "I am so sorry but he buried his memories of you in the darkest part of his mind."

"Why?"

"After Cain decapitated me, Abel didn't want _anything_ at all to remind him of the good times he had experienced here," Lilith's expression became contemplative, "as a matter of fact the last thing I saw was _you_."

Valentina remembered her last dream of the ARK and how she had woken up screaming her head off and began to cry on Lilith's shoulder, "I remember Cain looking at me with something bordering on bloodlust and then he bashed my head against the doorjamb over there," and she pointed at the door that lead to the laboratory.

"And it was after that incident that you forgot about what you had here, we became nothing more than a dream to you."

"I had always wished for those dreams never realizing that they were just as much my reality as my own time was. I didn't realized until now how much _I missed you_, you were the closest thing to a sister that I ever had."

Lilith smiled as she hugged her tighter, "Are you still infatuated with Abel?"

"_**What," **_asked Valentina as her face began to burn with embarrassment.

"The two of you were quite enamored with each other to the point that I was able to hope that Abel had finally found someone to share his life with, someone to balance him out."

"Oh…um…I…" Valentina's face was now bright fuchsia with embarrassment then she lowered her head, "yes, I am quite fond of him."

"That is not what I asked you. If you were only fond of Abel than what would it matter who's hand he kisses?"

"Is how Abel and I felt for each other the reason why I feel like a centuries old wound has been ripped open?"

"Yes, I think that is exactly why you are hurting perhaps if you admit to yourself how you feel it may help. But it would be better if you say it to Abel."

"I can't do that."

"Then tell me as though I were Abel, it could help."

"Alright."

Valentina stepped away from Lilith, sat on the floor with her legs folded up close to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs as she stared out at planet Earth from over her knees. She lets out her breath in a sigh, "I remember what happened to all of us nine hundred years age. I guess that I always knew deep down inside that we were tied together but I wouldn't believe it. However, I can't help how I feel. I love you, Abel."

"_**What**_," said a very familiar and quite shocked voice and Valentina's eyes shot open. She looked around the room, "Are we on the Iron Maiden?"

"Yes," Abel was watching her with a curious look on his face, "Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing," Valentina covered her face to hide the fact that she actually _was_ blushing, "was I talking in my sleep?"

"Well," Abel turned pink with embarrassment.

"Well what?"

"You said something about remembering something that happened nine hundred years ago."

"Oh, that."

"What did you mean by that?"

"Lilith talked to me, she told me that I knew all of you from nine hundred years ago. I kept trying to explain that it had to be a dream but she would have none of it."

"Lilith," Abel sat down on the corner of Valentina's bed with an expression of deep sadness, "she talked to you about you knowing us nine hundred years ago?"

"Yes, I'm still not sure it wasn't just a dream," she tucked her legs up to her chest and hugged them closer, "but it seemed to real."

"It could be the truth," said Abel as he stared at his hands, "there is a lot that I forgot about from back then, and a lot that I can never forget."

Valentina let go of her legs so she could crawl to the edge of the bed and sat next to Abel, "Lilith said that you forgot much about the ARK because remembering the good times you had could eventually lead to remembering what Cain had done to her."

"She would know," Abel gave a very uncharacteristically bitter laugh, "she always did know me better than I knew myself."

Valentina rested her head against Abel's arm and closed her eyes with a sigh while new memories assaulted her mind. In the first memory, she was standing on the observation deck watching the planet below her. A pair of hands covered her eyes, "Guess who?"

"Abel?"

"How do you always know its me," asked Abel as he lowered his hands to her shoulders.

"Cain just stares at me, anyway you sort of give off a resentful vibe that always lets me know you're near me."

"Oh, really."

"Yeah, sorry."

Abel let go of her shoulders, spun her around, and pulled her close, "You still think I'm predictable?"

"I wasn't complaining, Abel," Valentina hugged him, "I like you just the way you are. On the other hand, your brother gives me the creeps."

Abel smiled down at her, "I know the feeling, Cain kind of gives the creeps to everyone."

In her next memory, Valentina was in the laboratory with Seth, "You are very special, Tina. I have never seen anyone's blood do what yours does."

"What do you mean, what is so special about my blood?"

Seth was looking in a microscope, "Your blood seems to have broken down the nanomachines and bonded them to your DNA. In other words you are the first pure blooded crusnik in existence, it is in your genetics to do everything that we can except it will be at Cain's power level."

"Why his power level," asked Valentina while she tried to wrap her mind around Seth's news.

"I infused you with what was left of the nanomachines to save your life, and that means that you were infused one hundred percent as a crusnik. You are equal to Cain, though you are lucky that it didn't affect you the same way it affected my brother," Seth looked up from the microscope, "it drove Cain insane."

In her last memory, Valentina was watching lights on Earth that indicated explosions and began to cry. Mankind was fighting those who returned from Mars just because they were different and her friends were taking sides leaving her in the dark.

"Why can't you all just find a way to coexist?"

"They started this conflict and you know it," said Abel from where he stood at the door leading to the control bridge.

"I'm sure that they are saying the same thing about us."

"You sound like Lilith," Abel sounded bitter, "Well, we came back to Earth hoping to live with the humans in peace but, they attacked those of us who went down to the planet."

"So, I guess that means hoping for peace is futile," said Valentina as she turned to face Abel, "I think I should leave until this conflict is over."

She left the deck through the door that lead to the living quarters. Abel followed her as she turned into a hallway that lead to three doors. Valentina opened the door directly in the center of the hall and stepped into the quarters set aside for her, it had been her home on the ARK for the last year. Abel had followed her in shutting the door behind him, "You would leave me alone because of this war?"

"I don't want to see any of you hurt. Abel, I never want to see anyone I love get hurt," she said as she walked into her bedroom, "So, I'm going to leave because I know that none of you will back down."

Abel ran to her and took hold of her hand, "Please don't go, Tina."

Valentina looked at Abel with such intensity that he gulped, "Give me _**one **_good reason why I should keep coming back in spite of this war."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, "I love you, my little Tina."

She looked up at Abel in shock, she had no idea that he felt that way about her. How had he been able to hide that from her? He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

Valentina opened her eyes to find that she was still on the bed leaning against Abel's arm, "Oh my."

She traced her lips with her fingers as she fell back on the bed giggling, she could still feel the kiss on her lips.

"Are you alright," asked Abel, turning to look at her, "you are acting drunk."

"I'm fine, _**really**_," then Valentina broke into laughter. Abel leaned over the bed watching her, "Are you sure you are…oops…" he slipped and landed on top of Valentina.

"Have a nice trip, Abel?"

"I am so sorry," Abel kept apologizing to her as he tried to get up and then he tripped on the hem of his over coat causing him to fall back on top of her. Face now bright red with embarrassment Abel finally got to his feet. As he was straightening out the creases in his robes, Valentina got off the bed and wrapped her arms around his waist, "Abel?"

"What?"

Valentina let go of Abel and walked around to face him, "I need you to see some of my memories. If they awaken memories in you then perhaps it wasn't just a dream."

"How do you plan on showing me these memories?"

"Like this," and she placed her fingers on his forehead like Lilith had done to her and thought of the memories about the ARK she wanted him to see, carefully skirting around the memories about her being a crusnik. Valentina removed her hand and turned to walk away when Abel took hold of her hand, "Wait…I-I remember."

"Then it wasn't a dream," she wriggled her hand out of his grasp with a smile and walked to the door, "we should be arriving in Rome any moment now. So, I'll be going to the deck to talk to Kate."

Valentina walked out of the room, humming a tune that had always meant that she was happy, leaving Abel staring at an open doorway, "I _still _love you, Tina."

-next chapter: Her Past: The Ark


End file.
